Cracks in a Mountain
by The Eccentric
Summary: Shorts. Everyday moments that aren't meant to be seen... 43. Wager: Friendly just wasn't good enough for the two of them. 44. Baby Steps: She got this far, she'll progress eventually.
1. Last Night

**I don't own**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Last Night"**

**.**

* * *

><p>Artemis groaned and moved her forearm to cover her closed eyes. Even behind the eyelids they were still sensitive to the light streaming onto the room. With a dull 'thud' something soft hit her hip, making her groan once more and curl onto her side in a pathetic attempt to assume the fetal position.<p>

"Artemis, you have to get up," a voice demanded.

"No," Artemis was able to mumble while ducking her head closer to her knees.

"Arty, we have to find Wally! I think he has my mask!" Robin's whining forced her to crack an eye open and glare at the younger boy. The instant she saw that the boy was lacking most of his clothes, her other eye popped open and she pushed herself into a sitting position. Robin stood in boxer shorts and a sock with his sunglasses perched on his nose, his hair sticking up in every direction. Artemis couldn't help but to snort in amusement.

"I'd say the girl in a Flash shirt using a Batman towel as a blanket has no room to laugh," Robin quipped. Artemis stopped her laughter at closer inspection of her appearance. She was indeed wearing a worn black T-shirt with the Flash insignia on it and a large beach towel with Gotham's idealic symbol for their caped crusader was stretched across her legs.

"Now get up. If we don't find Wally before the other's wake up this situation will be disastrous. Heavy on the 'dis'," Robin offer his hand, which Artemis took immediately. She stumbled slightly clutching at her head in pain.

"Never again."

"Never being the next time Wally gets bored and brings alcohol to the Cave, you mean," Robin corrected her with a smirk.

Before she could come up with a snarky comeback the door to their right slid opened and the missing speedster entered looking thoroughly disgruntled.

"Why is it that when this happens I get the crap end of the deal? How exactly did I end up in Kaldur's closet wearing your mask, Robin, with your damn quiver strapped to my back, Artemis?" Wally threw his hands in the air exasperatedly. He didn't bother mentioning that he was also wearing a pair of Wonder Woman boxers as he pointed at Artemis. "Why do you have my shirt?"

"Why did you have my mask, KF?" Robin countered.

"Where are everyone's clothes and what the heck did we do last night?" the room was tense after the words left Artemis's mouth.

"I'd like to know the answer to that as well," the gravelly voice of Batman commented from somewhere behind Artemis.

"Maybe I should have stayed in the closet..." Wally mumbled under his voice.

"It's okay. We accept you now that you're out in the open, Wall-man."

"Says you. Put him back in the closet," Artemis snorted and wrapped herself back in the Batman towel, ready to tune out a long, demeaning lecture.

* * *

><p><strong>All I have to say is: Damn that Katy Perry song.<strong>

**And**

**We all wonder what it would be like if alcohol was brought to Mount Justice and we all know Wall-man would be the one to bring it.**

**So go ahead a review and Wally might just drop a Jack and Coke at your place.**


	2. Goldfish

**I don't own**

* * *

><p><strong>. <strong>

**"Fish"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"I think we should get a gold fish."<p>

"What do we need a fish for, Baywatch?"

"Because you need a friend?"

"Ha ha. You're so funny."

"A team project?"

"Conner would kill it."

"So I could have a pet?"

"You know, it would probably flush itself."

"Okay, how about to teach Miss Martian responsibility?"

"She's older than both of us, Wally. Try again."

"I'd be scared to give Rob a fish, to be honest."

"Yeah. That's a bad idea waiting to happen."

"If we got a pet fish maybe Kaldur wouldn't be home sick then?"

"I think Kaldur would find that interesting, Kid Idiot."

"Wait. Wait. Please don't tell him I said that! Hey. Hey, where are you going , Artemis?"

"Going to buy Kaldur a gold fish. You coming?"

* * *

><p><strong>Just a short conversation between Wally and Artemis.<strong>

**Huh. The editor cut out some of my word. So I edited and re-uploaded.**

**Sorry!**


	3. Walls

**I don't own**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Walls"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"So...any ideas on getting out of here?"<p>

Both Aqualad and Superboy just stared at the pacing speedster. Neither said a word much to the impatient boy's dismay. He sighed and turned his attention to the ceiling as he continued walking the same path for the umpteenth time since the three had been trapped in the small room.

"We will just have to wait until Miss Martian locates us," Kaldur finally said attempting to appease the younger boy. Wally sighed again and tugged at at his suit.

"There's no way they'll be able to handle those thugs without us," Kid Flash whined as he plopped to the floor. Kaldur gave him a stern look.

"Unless you wish to attempt to vibrate your molecules and risk a bloodied nose, then we must wait for the others to arrive."

"They'll find us," Superboy interjected gruffly. That signaled the conversation. Kaldur leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes while Superboy crossed his arms and got that look on his face. You know, the look that meant he was concentrating, but looked liked he was constipated...or at least to Wally that's how it looked.

"So Supey, how're you and Miss M doing?"

He was answered with silence.

"Uh...So Aqualad what's Atlantis like?"

No response.

"Am I the only one that think Robin's creepy laugh is, er, creepy?"

Silence once more. Wally let his head fall back against the wall and out of the edge of his eyes he could see the wall behind him.

"Huh. Would you look at that? A wall. You don't see many of those around these days."

"Really, KF? That's the best you can do?"

"Robin, it is Flash Boy. You can't really expect any better from him," the vent cover in the corner was suddenly on the floor and the Boy Wonder was hanging out from the open vent a smirk on his face.

"True fact, Arty. Now are you guys going to sit down there or is it going to take another herd of walls to get you out of there?"

"Maybe your creepy laugh with get their butts into gear," Wally cringed as Artemis' condescending comment and laugh drifted down from inside the vent.

"Oh yeah. Can't forget about that one, KF."

At that point Wally was considering waiting until another herd of walls did show up before going into that vent with a vengeful troll and a readily assisting she-demon.

* * *

><p><strong>People really don't notice walls enough. They get no appreciation, really. They're everywhere, but we just ignore them...<strong>

**Er...That's all.**


	4. Charming

**I don't own.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Charming"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"You bought me...a gold fish?" Skepticism was painted on the Atlantian's face, or was that disbelief? Artemis really wasn't sure. Out of all the members on the team, their fearless leader was the hardest for her to read.<p>

"Wally and I," she corrected him pointedly. "It was his idea. I just went along with it to show that I'm at least trying to get along with him."

"Well this was rather unexpected," Kaldur choose his words carefully, without looking at her.

"Wally's idea," Artemis pointed out once more. His shock/disbelief/skepticism/whatever the hell it was melted off his face immediately, replaced by a soft smile and warm eyes.

"Despite the abruptness of the gift from the two of you, I am thankful for it," he smile warmly at her and she faintly thought about how sweet the girls in Atlantis probably thought he was. Or maybe all the guys were like that? Who knew. "I am truly surprised at the thoughtfulness, albeit slightly misguided, of this gift."

"Oh, it's not really a big deal," Artemis felt her face flush slightly at the praise of her leader. "It's just that you never around other than missions and Wally thought a fish might bring you around more during our down time."

"I had not thought that the team would be spending time with one another outside of training and missions," he looked genuinely surprised at the information. "I will be sure to divide my time more evenly between the team and Atlantis from now on."

"Kaldur, it's not really that big of a deal. It's just a fish," Artemis mumbled, face beet red now. Despite the face he spoke formally, Kaldur's voice was enticing and the formal way he spoke? That seemed to be part of his odd charisma.

"Perhaps to you it is just a fish," his smile was soft again and directed right at her as he stood from his place next to her. The small glass fish bowl in his hands was held carefully. "But I thank you nonetheless, Artemis."

Kaldur left her feeling fluttery and girly, something completely odd for her. Who was she to say anything against it though. Guys like him just didn't exist in her world.

Kaldur was charming, when had that happened?

* * *

><p><strong>I think he's rather charming in his own way...<strong>


	5. Dinner

**I don't own**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Dinner"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"Guys. What's for dinner?<p>

"KF, it's ten in the morning. Eat breakfast like normal people. Jeez."

"That doesn't matter, Rob. We have to think ahead!" Wally tried to reason, but all he got in response was a skeptical look and his best friend's trademark smirk.

"Fine," Wally sighed and plopped back down on the couch, picking up his forgotten game controller.

**…..**

"Man, I am so ready for dinner," Wally groaned, hand on his stomach as he let his forehead meet the table top. Megan looked at him in surprise.

"We just ate lunch, Wally," she spoke carefully as she eyed the boy. "If you want I can get you another plate or...or I could make cookies!"

Before Wally could respond, Megan had already floated herself to the kitchen and was rummaging around in the refrigerator. With a shrug, Wally reached over and plucked a potato chip from Kaldur's plate. The leader in question raised an eyebrow at the boy; but resigned, pushing the plate towards the speedster with a sigh.

**…..**

"We'll just order pizza or something...No, Mom. I have to stay here for the night...Yes, I have pajamas here...Mom...Mom. My bow is not in my room, it's right here. My eyes are on it right now," the team was silent as Artemis walked into the room, talking on her cell phone. Obviously to her mother. Her voice lowered as she caught sight of the team. "It'll be fine, I promise. I gotta go. You too, Mom."

"So can we really order pizza?" Wally immediately asked the moment the phone had closed with a 'click'. Artemis ignored him and sat down next to Robin, who was fiddling with something from his utility belt. Megan and Conner were perfectly content with sitting close and watching the static on the television. Wally's eyes moved to Kaldur, who was reading. Of all things, he was reading while Wally was dying from starvation.

"Guys, let's go get some food," Wally tried after a few minutes, which had felt like hours. Kaldur merely glanced up from his book at the speedster. No one else bothered to react.

"Guuuuuuys," after a few more minutes. Conner tossed his arm around Megan's shoulder.

"I see how it is, I'm wasting away and this is how you guys act," not even a moment later. Wally was playing up the dramatics to get his friends to do anything, but it didn't seem to work. When had they gotten so boring. Was getting some food really that big of a request?

"I think I see the light," tossing a hand over his eyes, Wally lay limply against the couch. Artemis sighed and stood.

"Feel free to go to the light then, Kid Idiot. Let me know when it's over," she spoke caustically, as always. Turning to leave the room, Wally called out to her.

"Wait, I'm dying. Where are you going?"

"The kitchen until you shut up about dinner, Baywatch."

Wally felt rejuvenated at that response and sat upright with a grin on his face.

"The proper response to that, Artemis, would be: What's for dinner?"

* * *

><p><strong>Wally. <strong>

**It's what's for dinner tonight.**


	6. Love

**Still no ownage**

* * *

><strong><strong>

**.**

**"Love"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"God, you're so beautiful," Wally sighed. He sat at the island in the kitchen and gazed dreamily across the counter. His eyes were half-lidded and slightly hazy, suggesting to a person, especially those not trained in caring for a speedster, that he was under the influence.<p>

"I know this is rather sudden, but I think I might be falling for you," the dopey grin on his face grew slightly as he crossed his arms and propped his chin against his wrist. His eyes stayed fixed to the same place.

"Please, don't speak. Let me explain!" he started, his voice almost panicky despite his relaxed demeanor. His head popped up and his hand shot out in the international gesture to stop. "You came in and you immediately...commanded the room. You're just so great. Geez...I mean you're so stylish and up to date; so...avante garde. Every one's already jealous, but you should just ignore them! They don't matter."

"You and I are the only ones that matter, Beautiful," Wally purred, leaning over the counter slightly as though he believed himself to be irresistible in such a pose.

"What the heck are you doing, Baywatch?" the screeching voice behind him ruined the room's ambiance that Wally had worked so hard to build up.

"Artemis, get out please. The adults are having a conversation," Wally whined over his shoulder, his eyes still not moving. His voice dropped back to the 'seductive purr', which to Artemis sounded like a eighty year old woman with a hoarse throat. "Ignore her, babe. She's nobody."

"The adults? Who are you..." Artemis murmured to herself, trailing off as she followed Kid Flash's gaze. Once she had settled on the object of his affections, she shot him a flat look (his back didn't even notice) and turned to yell down the hallway that her teammates were walking down in their direction.

"Guys hurry up! Wally's sweet talking the new refrigerator again! If you don't get in here soon, we might have some molestation charges from Kenmore by the time Bats gives us another mission!"

* * *

><strong>We all know he would.<strong>


	7. Wonderland

**Still waiting for those papers to get here. Until then I don't own a thing.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Wonderland"**

.

* * *

><p>The two made no move to engage each other in battle as they were supposed to. Instead, they chose to stand on the ledge of the building and take in the view. It was rather uncharacteristic of them both.<p>

"We're sisters. It's not supposed to be this way," the blonde sighed, her eyes downcast to hide her uncertainty about the situation. "Why do we have to do this?"

"Because this is what we've chosen, Alice," her darker counterpart responded, using the name almost scornfully compared to the tenderness of the rest of the statement.

"Don't call me that, Jade. This isn't Wonderland. This isn't that damn book. It is the real world," Artemis's head snapped up and there was fire in her eyes once more. Defiance. Anger. "We are enemies on different sides. You are not the Cheshire Cat and I'm not Alice!"

"Don't you think I know this, Artemis?" the harsh tone of Jade's voice was mixed with disappointment. "Don't you think that I know that I can't be your Cheshire Cat even in the real world? I can't be your sister anymore and give you vague advice and watch you walk in circles until you do finally understand?"

"I think you know, but you can't accept it," Artemis's own voice was laced with sadness she hadn't even realized she felt until then. "We're not in Wonderland anymore, Jade."

"Were we ever?" a humorless chuckle escaped the mouth of the elder sister. Dark hair whipping in the wind that played through the spaces between the tall buildings. They stood only feet from each other, never exchanging looks, overlooking the bustling street below. Despite the fact that Gotham was a dirty, gritty, crime ridden city it was lit up and beautiful, in it's own way. "Wonderland might just be a dream, Artemis, but do you remember what Carroll wrote at the end of 'Through the Looking Glass'?"

There was a lapse in silence, not uncomfortable in the least, as Jade waited for her little sister's response. Artemis considered not answering, in fact, she was forcing herself to ignore the question. The words slipped past her lips in an almost whisper as she remember the epilogue's last line.

" 'Life what is, but a dream.' "

They stood there for what seemed like hours, watching the people below in silence. Stood there wondering what it would be like away from this place and its politics. Away from the League and the Shadow, to a place where they couldn't be followed or recognized. Possibly a place with white rabbits, queens and kings, an odd duchess or two, tea parties, or even a chessboard.

Suddenly, the slight peace they had felt between them was over. With a flick of her wrist, Jade's grinning mask was in place once more. Over the yelling of people and the running of cars from the street below, Artemis could make out her sister's faint farewell, "Until next time, Alice."

Artemis stood and watched her sister slink away into the Shadows; with a sigh she accepted the nickname like she happily had when she was a little girl. Even now, she could very well be 'Alice' in a twisted way, just as Jade could be her Cheshire Cat even in this world. Because of Ollie she had been thrown into her own version of Wonderland, a place she didn't know, nor did she ever realize, truly existed. A world of good. A world where she was good. Now she couldn't fail him after the chances he had offered her, so she raced around the unfamiliar world helping others. Trying to overthrow the King and Queen of Hearts unfair justice or trying to find her own Red Queen to win a game of chess. Her sister popping in occasionally and forcing her to over-think, over-analyze, or just plain annoy her with impossible choices. Currently, she was in her own little Wonderland.

Artemis stood on the rooftop, hair flowing in the wind. She was alone, but she promised herself that she would find the Red Queen and put her King into checkmate.

Maybe then she and Jade could find their Wonderland.

* * *

><p><strong>I really got into the idea of Artemis and Jade's life being compared to Wonderland. I have a feeling that it'll stick with me until I write a full length fic, or a long one-shot at the very least.<strong>

**So what did you guys think of this one?**

**It's more serious than the rest, but I like it.**

**Let me know what you think, if you would.**


	8. Honest

**Yeah. Still don't own.**

* * *

><strong><strong>

**.**

**"Honest"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"Artemis, please talk to me," Megan's voice was muffled by the thick metal door. The Martian knew that she could speak directly to Artemis via the mind link they share, but Megan figured that the archer would just become more closed off if she did. "Some thing is wrong, I know it is. You're upset. Was it something one of us said?"<p>

She received no response.

"I just wanted to help," Megan sighed to herself and slid down the length of the door. She ended up on her bottom with her knees pulled to her chest. Tucking her chin in the valley created by her kneecaps she closed her eyes and continued speaking. "I know there's a lot that you're not telling us, Artemis, and we really have no right to push it. I just feel after everything we've been through, that we don't know you very well. That I don't know you very well. We call each other 'friend', but after what happened in the exercise I've come to realize that we're not truly friends. Teammates or glorified acquaintances at very best. I really would like to be your friend, Artemis. We never know when something might really happen and we lose the chance. I really don't want to lose my Earth sister already."

The green skinned teen sat out in the corridor for over an hour, saying nothing else. She was really holding out on the idea that the blonde would come around and open the door for her. After the hour had elapsed, Megan made to stand, pressing her hand against the door to the archer's room to keep her balance on a sleeping leg. Just as she had turned away she heard the soft 'whir' of the mechanisms in the door opening it. Turning back she was met with the sight of the younger girl in pajamas, something she was most definitely not accustomed to. Her eyes were looking down at the floor, but Megan could see the redness and the puffiness that were trademarks of spilt tears. She looked so young, so broken, so un-Artemis.

Without a word, Megan embraced her friend who sniffled tensely at the unusual contact. It took a moment for Artemis to relax, but when she did the floodgates opened and her arms recuperated the Martian's hug as she sobbed into her shoulder. Megan stood there hugging her friend, rubbing her back soothingly.

"I'm so-sorry," Megan was shocked at the words that broke through Artemis's sobs. The girl had done wrong. Pulling back slightly, Megan looked at her teammate sternly as she spoke.

"You haven't done anything wrong, so don't apologize," Artemis looked at the Martian disbelievingly as she spoke fiercely. Megan then added in her normal tone, "Now we should get out of the hallway before Wally or Robin walks by. I know you wouldn't want them to see you like this. Come on. We'll sit .talk. I want to know what's wrong, Artemis. I want to be your friend, I promise I won't judge you. Just be honest with me."

All Artemis could do was nod and give her friend a watery smile as she was led her into her room with a gentle push from the older girl. The heavy door closed with a soft 'whir' behind them.

* * *

><strong>It'll eventually happen. Artemis'll break down and someone's gotta notice.<strong>


	9. Call

**I don't own.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Call"**

**.**

* * *

><p>There were times that he just needed someone, but no one that he needed was near. He could easily have run and found someone, but Aunt Iris was rather insistent to remind him that although he had super speed, he should never run away from his problems. Or his feelings or anything that wasn't lethally dangerous. Lethally dangerous things she would encourage him to run from.<p>

Instead of running, he flipped open his cell phone and hit the glowing '7' on his speed dial. He flopped back onto his bed with an impatient sigh as the tone reverberated in his ear.

Once.

Twice.

Thr-voicemail.

She had screened his call! Wally pulled the phone from his ear and glared at it intently. After a moment he resigned himself to hitting the '7' once more. Once more quickly became four more times as each call was sent to voicemail during the first ring.

On his sixth try, Wally felt defeat letting the phone fall away from his ear onto his rumpled comforter. This time he would leave a message insulting her with the hope that she would call back in the morning.

"Baywatch, it is four in the morning. This had better be good."

Snapping up the phone quickly and pressing it to his ear, a grin settling on his face. He greeted his unfortunate phone tag partner; although the next day when he thought about it, it would be more befitting if he called her his phone hide-and-seek partner instead.

"Hey, Arty," Wally's voice was uncharacteristically soft and that was the only thing that kept the archer on the other end from blowing up on him.

"Hey, Wally," Artemis sighed. Something was obviously wrong, this was the third time he had done this since their training exercise gone wrong. "How are you?"

"I'm...alive," Wally frowned at his own response. A soft laugh could be heard over the phone.

"So am I," Artemis supplied, as though she knew that still bothered him. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that Megan, Conner, Kaldur, and Robin are all alive too."

"Promise?"

"I promise, Baywatch," the warmth in her voice relaxed the tension in his body now, the first time he had heard her sound like that it had made him weary. He welcomed it with unseen, open arms when he could now.

"If you're wrong, I reserved the right to beat you to a pulp tomorrow," Wally cracked and Artemis scoffed.

"As if you could even if I let you," a small yawn could be heard and Wally felt guilty for using her like this. The feeling dissipated when she spoke next. "Now tell me what's wrong."

"Well, I was at school today..."

It didn't matter what he talked about in the end, nor did it matter what had bothered him to begin with. Wally was certain that he could sit on the phone in silence with only a few words shared between the two of them and he would feel better. Like he was there with her, and for some reason, she made him feel better. Not that she would ever know that, of course.

"That's it? It's not even a big deal, Wally. Don't worry about it so much," her voice was in his ear once more and he didn't bother telling her that he wasn't really worrying about it all that much. "Just get some sleep, Wally."

"Thanks, Artemis," his response was soft once more and he bade her a good night with sweet dreams.

As he flipped off his lamp on his nightstand, placing the phone on the surface, he smiled.

It didn't matter what she said when he called her. She could insult him to Heaven and Hell and back again and he probably wouldn't care.

Sometimes it was just comforting to hear her voice.

* * *

><p><strong>Well...here'a another one for you guys.<strong>

**To those of you that are reveiwing, thank you. It makes me smile.**

**Until next time, which in reality will be at some point tonight.**


	10. Happy

...

"Happy"

...

With careful eyes Paula Crock studied her youngest daughter. Doning only a towel, the blonde had just gotten out of a hot shower. A nasty bruise was forming on her collar bone and there was a small welp developing on her jaw, Artemis jerked the wooden brush through the damp blonde hair that she held in such contempt. Paula smiled remembering the reaction she had received at the small suggestion of getting it cut off in favor of a shorter, lower maintenence style; Artemis had looked at her as though she had lost her mind and pointed out indiginantly that Paula loved her hair. Paula had been unable to do much else but laugh and pull her daughter into a hug. She had been right though, Paula did love her daughter's hair, both of their's in fact. Where Jade had inherited her own, Artemis had somehow gotten her father's. Paula had always been a sucker for blonds.

"...I swear, Mom. Wally says the most stupid things. You would think he'd learn to think before speaking," Artemis had been recounting that evenings training session and the apparently terrible fact she had been paired with the partner of the Flash.

"Super speed or not, all men tend to have that problem," Paula supplied as she caught the last of her baby girl's rant.

"Why Ollie thought this team thing was a good idea is beyond me," she sighed and glanced at the part of the bruise that she could see. Prodding it gently with the wooden brush, she winced in pain, "I don't know why I agreed to it in the first place."

Paula stared at her daughter's slumped shoulders and the deep frown on her face. She knew exactly why Artemis was doing it, though she would never admit to it. It was for her mother; and Paula couldn't help but to believe that she was enjoying it more than she let on.

"I'm sure Oliver would understand if you didn't want to be part of the team as long as you explained to him why," Paula quipped softly, noting the way Artemis has begun to chew on her bottom lip.

"I couldn't do that to him, Mom. Not after everything he's done," her voice was just as soft as she stared at the folded hands in her lap.

"If you're not happy, he couldn't fault you for it," she wheeled herself closer to her daughter and grasped her hand gently giving it a light squeeze. "You need to do what makes you happy. Ollie would understand that."

"After Roy walking out on him, I'm not sure I could do that to him," she sighed again letting her forehead rest against the table. Paula took the opportunity to tuck her hair behind her ear so she could see her face. "I just don't fit there. Then some people have no qualms about pointing out that fact."

"And that makes you uncomfortable," her mother finished her thought out loud a smile growing on her own face. "You're not used to being uncomfortable when you're supposedly in your element."

"Well, yeah. It kinda ruins the whole being in my element thing," Artemis pointed out.

"Artemis, you know that it's not fair if you get to go through life completely comfortable in situations," Paula stroked her daughter's hair just as she had when she was young. Younger, she amended. Artemis was still young.

"I know, but-"

"With switching schools and working in a team, I know it's a difficult adjustment, but it is just an adjustment. You'll get used to it."

"It's a big change, Mom."

"Will you be happy when you get used to it then?" Paula asked, hand still smoothing the golden hair that was now dry and slightly wavy.

"I don't know," Artemis admitted. "It's too early to tell. Plus I don't know Wally will ever stop ragging on me for being Roy's replacement."

"Wally aside, will you be happy? What about the others? You said that Megan has taken a liking to you and that Zatanna girl."

"Megan's pretty preoccupied with Conner now," a scowl appeared, and she continued. "Zatanna is only there every once in a while. She's not really apart of the team."

"And the others?"

"I don't really talk to them, honestly. The person I talk to the most is actually Wally and all we do is argue."

"Are you happy, Artemis?" It was a quiet moment before Paula could ask that. Her daughter turned her head to look at her mother, brow furrowed as she regarded the woman in a wheelchair. "That team is all you ever talk about anymore and you've worked hard to get away from...what things were. Even if you did it for my sake, it is your life, Artemis; and all that matters to me is your happiness."

For the longest time all Artemis did was look at her mother quizzically. Her grey eyes searched the familiar face and she sighed, turning her eyes back to her lap. Paula's heart warmed as she saw the lightest upward twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"Yeah, Mom. I think I'm pretty happy," Artemis finally admitted. "Even with Wally being a jackass all the time."

"Artemis! Language!" A light slap to the back of the blonde's head cause the girl to burst out laughing. Paula found herself chuckling right along with her.

…

**You guys make me smile. Seriously. And i couldn't help but to type this up on my phone...at work. There'll probably be another one later tonight.**

**Until then!**


	11. Out

**I don't own.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Out"**

**.**

* * *

><p>It was about the third time that the lights had flickered on and off indecisively in the cave when Artemis considered going home might actually be a good idea. She was well aware that Mount Justice had backup generators, but there was a good chance that use of the Zeta Tubes would be limited to conserve the use of said generators. Besides there was no telling how the Zeta Tubes could be affected by the fierce storm. When she thought about it, with the way the storm was assaulting Happy Harbor her best bet would be to get out while she still could. Heaving a exasperated sigh, she gathered her books, shoving them in her backpack, before snatching up her bow and quiver off the chair to her left. Just as she was slinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder, the lights flickered once again. They had finally decide that the darkness was far more suitable for this weather then the light.<p>

The backup lights they had were now shining dimly as Artemis cursed under her breath.

"You would think that the League's old base wouldn't be so damn susceptible to a damn storm. Or that they would have bigger generators to power the whole damn place. Stupid storm. Stupid Mount Justice," she had stopped using her offensive language in lieu of complaining about the home base they had been given. She paused when the intercom above each set of emergency lights crackled to life and Red Tornado's voice carried through.

"All junior league members present are required to report to the front room until further notice. You will be required to stay in Mount Justice until the electricity is restored and the storm has subsided. That is all."

"Dammit," sitting down her quiver and bow and tossing her bag back onto the table; Artemis began her walk to the living room with a little more annoyance and huff than she should have.

Walking into the designated room was an odd sight. There was a sole emergency light in the corner that was far dimmer than any of the other ones she had passed, so the room was cast in hulking shadows and mostly darkness. The odd thing about it was that the team was already on the couch, but Megan, instead of being seated next to Conner, was sitting hip to hip with Wally. Her arms were around him in an awkward, seated hug. No one seemed at all perturbed by the scene; in fact, they all seemed rather...somber. Caught up in their own little situation.

Artemis knew then that she had missed something, but she said nothing. Pulling her cell phone out of her pocket silently she surveyed the dark room for the nearest seat. She took a seat quietly in one of the individual chairs placed against the same wall that the entrance she had come in. She had no desire, nor any right to intrude on the moment that was occurring, but Red Tornado had ordered them to stay put in the front room. She really had no choice. So she distanced herself away from whatever heartfelt moment was going on right then. She busied herself with sending a text message to her mother informing her of their current situation.

"Hey, Arty," Robin called from the center of the couch, waving slightly. Attention was shifted to her and she forced herself not to glare at the Boy Wonder.

"Artemis, we were unaware of your arrival. Our sincerest apologies. Please do join us," Kaldur smiled apologetically at her. Artemis thought it was hard to say 'no' to the Martian, but saying 'no' to an Atlantian that spoke like that was impossible. She sighed and pushed herself out of the chair. Snapping her phone shut along the way, she made sure to keep it in her hand for easier access.

"Not a big deal. I just didn't want to interrupt," she grumbled as she passed him to sit a couple of feet to his right. Robin looked her way and smirked.

"Can't you just feel the 'valence in the air?"

"I'm pretty sure you can't feel the combining capacity of an atom, Robin," Artemis raised an eyebrow at him, showing the slightest bit of confusion.

"I wasn't referring to chemistry, Arty," the boy 'tsked' the archer. "Ambivalence is when people have conflicting emotions, but in this situation the 'ambi' is pretty pointless. So it's pretty valent in here, if I do say so myself."

"It can't be that "valent" in here if you're feeling up to butchering the English language," her response was dry and out of the corner of her eye she saw the Martian pull away from the speedster and wipe discreetly at her eyes. Wally's face was angled towards the floor, his expression unseen due to the shadows. Artemis shot the younger boy a questioning look.

The look was ignored as Megan pressed a light kiss to Wally's temple and got up to take her place next to Conner.

Artemis was thoroughly confused at this point; she didn't even realize that she was speaking until the words had fallen from her lips.

"What the hell is going on?" she pressed her hand to her mouth when Wally stiffened and his eyes glowered at her. It was the coldest look that she had ever received from him.

At the same time, it was the saddest she had ever seen him look as well.

"It's none of your business, replacement," he spat, eyes turning back to the floor. The tension in the room was suddenly stifling and Artemis bristled slightly.

"I prefer 'Rent-An-Archer', makes it seem like you put more effort into it," she snapped back, the tension dissolved slightly.

"It doesn't matter what you prefer, you don't deserve the effort."

"Kid Flash. Stop this immediately," Kaldur's voice cut off the sarcastic quip Artemis was about to launch back at the boy. She didn't know what had turned him this sour in the few hours since he'd been away from the mountain, but she hadn't done anything (much) to provoke him.

The room was at a standstill. The silence needed to be broken and the tension diffused, but if the wrong person said the wrong thing at the wrong time it would all go to hell.

It would go to hell in a hand basket.

A hand basket with a pretty ribbon.

Artemis snapped her cellphone back open and began to scroll through the menu aimlessly. A few minutes later she received a slightly worried text response from her mother, asking for more details. Artemis sighed and began reassure her mother to that everyone was indeed alive and that the only problem was the lights were out in the base.

"Wally got a letter from his dad today," Robin spoke softly, almost as if he were talking to himself. Artemis didn't say anything, just stared; only because she wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. She paused as she hit the button to send the message, closing the phone softly, rather than snapping it shut like before. She was sure this was treading on unsafe grounds.

"It's none of her business, Robin," the growl Wally tried for came out as a non-menacing croak as he switched his glare to his best friend. "I don't want her to know."

"Why?" Artemis asked with no inflection. Her eyes shone with curiosity, but in the dark room, her face gave nothing away.

"Because we don't know anything about you. You don't want us to," Wally's eyes met her own, hard and unflinching. "So you never open up."

"What do you want to know then?" Artemis wanted to prove him wrong just as much as she want to be accepted on this team. The latter was something that she finally accepted after spilling her heart out to Megan.

"..." All eyes had turned to her, disbelieving the question that she had just asked. Afraid to ask something in return, in case it was a sham. Megan's eyes, catching the little light in the room, caught her own and she smiled.

_'I promise I won't judge you. Just be honest with me."_

The words echoed in her head and Artemis wasn't sure if it was Megan's telepathic link or if she was just recalling the words from her memory.

"Tell us anything, Artemis. We'll willingly listen to whatever you want to say," the older girl's voice was reassuring and soft.

"Fine. Since we're on the topic of parents," Wally's hand tightened into a fist at slightly condescending tone. "My mom's in a wheelchair. She went to prison for six years after her accident. She took the all blame for what happened and she didn't deserve it."

"Artemis..." Megan was out of her seat once more in attempt to move to her side, but Artemis held up her hand to stop the Martian girl. Her eyes were locked on the speedster. His mouth was in a tight line as though he had a smarmy retort waiting to burst out, but he was listening.

"My father," a humorless chuckle sounded harsh as it escaped her lips. Her hand tightened around the small phone in her grip. "My father was the one that didn't deserve it. It was his fault that my mother was sent to prison and his fault that I was stuck with him for six years. Despite being the worst years of my life...It's those years that made me what I am today. My sister left home because of him and my mom left him when she got out because of what he made me."

Wally's eyes were just as hard as hers, but his mouth had turned downward in a slight frown. The warm webbed hand on her shoulder did nothing to alleviate the tension in her muscles or the fear of her next words.

"My parents were criminals," Artemis's jaw was set, but for some reason tears pricked at her eyes. The gaze she had on the red head was given up in favor of the dark hallway on to his left. Her hand was throbbing now from gripping the phone so tight, but she held on still. "They were Huntress and Sportsmaster...well. I suppose he still is Sportsmaster."

She fought a deep frown that was threatening to overtake her mouth and the way Kaldur tightened his grip on her shoulder wasn't helping.

"Artemis, you cannot help who your parents are," Kaldur's voice was soft, but reassuring. She felt the tears well up more and she rapidly tried to blink them away. "I trust you no less even with this information."

"Huh, I didn't know your mom was Huntress," Robin commented in an off-handed fashion, as though none of this was a big deal. "I wonder if Bats knew."

"Thank you for sharing that with us, Artemis," Megan had reclaimed her seat next to Conner and now beamed at the archer.

"No problem," eyes still trying to force tears from them, Artemis kept her head down as she released the phone. It fell into her lap, the front screen lite up '1 New Message: Mom'.

She didn't dare look up even when she saw the slight movement along the floor. She felt the tears recede slightly as she took a deep breath that seemed to catch in her lungs. The heavy footsteps didn't surprise her in the least. She blinked once, twice to keep the salty water at bay.

Suddenly, waves of tears crashed down her skin with no provocation.

It was the slamming door that did her in. 

* * *

><p><strong><strong>

**Longest one yet. Super longest drabble (supposed) yet...ever. Whatever.**  
><strong>Ugh. I think I'm spoiling you guys. x.x"<strong>  
><strong>Or those sweet little reviewers are buttering me up.<strong>  
><strong>...Okay, it's some of both...and someone requested Artemis dropping the bomb on the team and I couldn't help myself.<strong>

**So review and it makes me smile and you get more to read at a faster pace, yes?**

**Ha ha.**  
><strong>'Salty water at bay.'<strong>  
><strong>Get it?<strong>


	12. Help

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Help"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"So Bats was talking about how Artemis hasn't been coming around the cave much lately," Robin plopped down on the couch next to his his best friend. There was no response from Wally. Only the sound of his quick tapping on his game controller filled the room. "Uncool, bro. Way uncool."<p>

"With empathize on the 'un', right?" Wally's eyes were still glued to the screen even as he spoke. Robin's mouth formed a half scowl for mere seconds before he carefully chose his response.

"Man, you and Artemis just have to ruin things for me," Wally stiffened at the archer's name and now glared at the game he played. "Whatever, dude. I was just going to give you a heads up, but I guess I wasted enough of your time as it is."

Robin stood, adjusted his glasses, and had turned to leave when his arm was caught in a light grip that yanked him back to the couch. Wally's eyes still faced forward, but a scowl was present now.

"Bro, don't be like that," he huffed. Robin smirked and figured that if Wally be like this then he would have a little bit of fun.

"Seriously, Wall-man. I've wasted enough of your time," Robin played up the guilt before adding: "Besides if I told you, Bats would probably kill me."

Wally's thumbs paused in mid-combo hovering over the buttons as he turned his head to look at his friend. When Tobin caught sight of Wally's wide eyes, he knew that the speedster was in his grasp. Anyone would take that bait, Robin reasoned; if the Bat would kill over some information then it was information someone wanted.

"Dude, you have to tell me!" Wally had dropped his controller and pleaded to his friend. His face shone with excitement and his entire demeanor had changed completely. His was nearly vibrating with the excitement of learning something that the Batman found to be imperative information.

"Well..." Robin paused, looking to his left then to his right. Lowering his voice, he leaned closer to his friend. "Alright, but you can't tell anyone. Got it?"

"Bro, I got this! My lips are sealed," Wally preformed the childish motion of zipping his lips.

"So I heard Bats talking to Canary earlier today about Artemis's lack of face time with the team. It was pretty 'versial between the two that something needed to be done about it," Wally ignored his friend's personal slang, almost immediately figuring out what he meant. "So they figured it had to do with the night the lights went out. Red Tornado came and found us after you left."

"Wait. Why would he tell them about that night?" Wally gave him a puzzled look. "Did something happen?"

"Er...no. I'm sure he just told them our statuses," Robin quickly covered. "Oh, and your lack of status."

"Oh," Wally pulled a face and sighed in disappointment. "I'm sure I'll probably get laid out by Canary at training tomorrow for not following protocol."

"If you get to come to training, man," Robin commented ominously and Kid Flash groaned.

"Come on, Rob! What's gonna happen?"

"The old 'lock 'em and leave 'em' trick," Robin finally relented and told his friend.

"The what?" Wally gave him a blank look and Robin had the slightest urge to smack his friend and say 'Hello, Wally'.

"When two people are locked in a room until they work out their differences," was the quick explanation. A look of horror formed on the speedster's face. "And maybe they're let out when they do. Most of the time the people that tricked them into the room forget about them."

"Hell no! She'll rip my eyes out! Please don't let them, man! I'm too handsome to lose my eyes!"

"Don't worry, bro. I've got your back. All you have to do is apologize," Robin said in a casual tone. Wally gave him a flat look. "Just get her to come back and show her face for a while and they'll drop it."

"I'm pretty sure I just said that I didn't want my eyes ripped out, Rob," Wally reminded his friend, who rolled his eyes.

"Call her or something," Wally cringed, but the Boy Wonder continued. "Text her. At least she get riled up enough to come her to kill you. Problem solved."

"I don't know, man…"

"Doesn't matter either way to me, Wall-man," Robin shrugged. "I'll get amusement from the two of you being locked up together, but I was just looking out for you."

"Alright, I'll think about it. Thanks, Robin," Wally glanced at his cell phone sitting on the coffee table in front of him and back to his friend, extending his fist towards him. "Bro-fist?"

"Always here to help," Robin bump his fist to the red head's and stood up, looking at the television screen as he left. "You lost your game, Wall-man. That sucks."

Wally looked up at the screen. 'GAME OVER' was in bold letters across the screen, his final actions playing in the background, dimmed in a red hue. Groaning, he didn't even bother picking up the controller from the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched his friend leave the room. Counting to ten before grabbing his phone, he tapped out a quick message, sent it, and raced out of the room.

Robin received the message seconds later.

'_pft. Help my ass. Ur gettin rusty.'_

With a scowl, Robin shoved his phone in his pocket. He really had been trying to help.

* * *

><p><strong>My original intentions were that none of the drabbles, one-shots, or dialogues were going to be connected, but they did start to connect in small details.<strong>  
><strong>Boo.<strong>  
><strong>But that's okay.<strong>

**I know most of you were sad about last chapter, but don't worry. I will eventually have an explanation for what the hell happened at the end...after a few non-Artemis centered/involved chapters. I gotta get over my addiction somehow...and learn to write Conner and Robin. Ugh.**  
><strong>So here was a little RobinKF friendshippy-ness for you guys.**  
><strong>Robin would never get trolled by KF, but...here's to hoping.<strong>

**Cheers!**


	13. Human

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Humans"**

**.**

* * *

><p>The night was dark and the beach was silent in the best kind of way. Waves lapped at the shore, the dim lights of the small town behind them reflected for few minutes before the weak waves crested and broke into a white froth. The two young lovers sat together on a small quilt, the clone's arm tightly around the Martian's waist as she leaned into his chest looking up at the night sky. Moments ago she had just finished pointing out the constellations to Conner, and now, Megan was enjoying the company that she was in.<p>

Until a thought popped into her mind.

"Conner, do you ever think we'll get bored of each other?" Megan interrupted their stargazing, her voice worried.

"What?" Conner had been taken off guard with the question. And had no idea how to respond.

"Us. Do you think we'll get tired of each other eventually?" She asked again, now out of his arms him with wide eyes.

"Uh...no?" Treading cautiously, Conner responded. Megan looked dejected with the answer.

"I just noticed the pattern that most humans go by. Divorce rates are at an all time high and more than likely one person in a relationship will cheat, if not both," Megan sighed looking out at the bay. "The reporter on the news said that people were getting tired of their partners, rather then loving them for life. If you love someone, how do you get bored with them?"

"This is why scientists don't want us watching television," trying to switch the subject to something less depressing, Conner attempted a joke. Something that Megan normally loved, Conner's failing attempts at joking.

"I just don't understand how humans can toss one another to the side like they're toys. When you love someone, you're supposed to want to spend the rest of your life with them," she slipped her hand into Conner's intertwining their fingers, but didn't meet his eyes. "I don't want us to get tired if each other and do that."

Conner gave her fingers a light squeeze, flashing a small smile her way when she glanced up at him. "It's a good thing we're not humans then, huh?"

* * *

><p><strong>Short, I know.<strong>  
><strong>But Conner LIVES! And speaks...too much.<strong>  
><strong>Y u talk Conner?<strong>

**Oh well. It's better than nothing.**


	14. Again

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

"**Again"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"What exactly is it that you wanted, Ollie?" Roy sat back in his seat and regarded his ex-mentor unhappily from across the table.<p>

"Dinah misses you, ya know," Ollie didn't look up from the menu in his hands as he ignored the question directed at him. "You should call her more so she'll stop harping on me."

"What? Why can't she just bother Artemis? Since the girl obviously took my place once," the red head's unhappy stare morphed easily into a glare. "She can do it again."

"I don't think Artemis would ever be tricked into going shoe shopping by Dinah," Ollie chuckled, the tone Roy had taken had no effect on the older man. Ollie would never admit to it, but Roy's angst was endearing and comforting. It was a familiar aspect of their relationship and it made him feel more comfortable. "She'll never replace you."

"Dinah actually values people then," Roy grumbled, switching his gaze to the bustling street on the other side of the large window.

"You know that I meant Artemis," Ollie sat his menu was placed on the table and his own gaze followed Roy's as they waited for the waitress. Roy's lips were pulled into a tight line at the comment. Ollie continued. "If you don't want to be here, why did you come then, Roy?"

"Free meal," Roy answered in a flat voice a few moments later. Ollie couldn't help but to burst out in warm guffaws, even though Roy hadn't intended for it to be funny.

"What are you talking about? I thought we were going to go dutch," Ollie joked as his laughter calmed. Roy glared at the older man and stood to leave.

"I thought you might actually have a reason to invite me here today. Something important, maybe about the mole," Roy's voice had lowered to a hiss. Ollie sighed and propped his chin against his fist. "Obviously, I was wrong."

"Maybe I do have some information for you," Ollie's eyebrow rose. With a groan Roy settled back into his chair.

"So what is it?" out of the corner of his eye, Roy watched as the waitress begin her rounds.

"What is what?" the waitress was only a table away now, and Ollie only needed to stall for a few more seconds. Roy opened his mouth to retort with anger.

"I'm so sorry about your wait, guys," the petite brunette that had taken their drink order beamed at the two handsome men. Her hip cocked to the left and her pen was poised against her small order pad. "Are you two ready to order, or do you need another minute?"

"Actually, I think we're ready," a quick glance a her name tag and a charming grin, "Ashley."

"What can I get you then, sir?" Ashley's cheeks were a little pinker, but her smile did not falter.

"I'll just have the special with fries and the sundae for dessert," Ollie responded and the two looked towards Roy.

"Same," Roy responded flatly, Ollie rolled his eyes and handed the menus to their waitress with another smile.

"I'll have that right out for you guys," another grin and Ashley was left their table a little more red than she had when she arrived.

"Now what were we talking about?" Ollie grinned cheerfully at his original prodigy.

"You had something you were going to tell me..."Roy reminded his, voice laced with irritation.

"Oh yeah. Dinah really misses you," Ollie repeated.

"It that is?" Roy's voice raised slightly.

"Well yeah," the elder archer shrugged and looked away from the younger. "Since you're already here and we've ordered, why don't you forget storming out and stay for lunch?"

"Fine," Roy crossed his arms and had a facial expression that was rather resembled a pout. Ollie bit back a chuckle.

"It's just like old times again. Except you ordered the barbecue chicken, I thought you hated their barbecue."

"Seriously? That's what you ordered? I thought you ordered your usual."

"It's okay, you ordered ice cream too. They do have the best ice cream."

"At least it's something I'll eat."

"You still have to finish your chicken first, Roy."

* * *

><p><strong>Made me smile.<br>I feel like Roy would dislike barbecue chicken because of the messiness of it. He has the very anti-mess kind of personality.**

**And don't worry! Wally and Arty time will be soon in case you were bugging out.**

**So just go on and leave a sweet little review letting me know if you liked this one...or one of the others.**

**Until next time!**


	15. Sick

**Consider it disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Sick"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"Pneumonia?" her voice was incredulous as she stared at her mother. The fierce stare Artemis was putting most of her concentration into was interrupted by a coarse cough that overtook the archer.<p>

"Probably from all the times you claimed you almost drowned," Paula Crock sighed patting her daughter's back until the cough subsided. Once her breathing had settled into a slightly wheezy, but regular pattern, she immediately began to nudge her towards the room she had once shared with her sister. Artemis rolled her eyes and groaned in the dramatic way that teenagers tended to, but complied with her mother. Paula rolled her own eyes as she followed the girl to her room, Artemis was always the worst when she was sick. "Now I want you to get into bed and I'll get you some cough syrup. I'll call the doctor and see if he can fit you in this afternoon."

"Mom...I'll be fine. Really," Artemis whined as she pulled the covers to her chin, but Paula was hearing none of it. She was already halfway to the bathroom by the time Artemis protested. As she found the the bottle of green liquid that would soothe the cough and most likely, knock Artemis out completely, wheeled herself back to the small bedroom. Paula slapped away her daughter's hands when she tried to take the medicine from her own hands, claiming that she could pour it for herself. Paula gave her daughter a stern look, "I can pour it myself. Since I'm apparently bedridden I figured you could get me a glass of water to wash down that bile."

"If I leave you to get some water, you wouldn't take it," Paula ignored the pout on her daughter's face and thrust the small plastic cup into her hand. It was now filled with the sticky green liquid. "So I'll get you the water after you take it."

The pout intensified and Artemis looked at her mother with large, sad eyes. Paula kept her poker face and the showdown only lasted for a mere thirty seconds. The kicked puppy look on the young blonde's face dissipated to be replaced by an unhappy scowl. The scowl deepened as she threw back the shot of syrup, but she held out the small cup for the second half of her dose. After she had swallowed the second part of her dose a firm look of disgust was planted fiercely on her face, but Paula noted the slight droop of her eyelids already. With a smile, Paula smoothed her daughter's hair down and in response, the disgust on her face softened into a slight scowl.

"I'll get you some water," Paula once again wheeled herself from the room as Artemis laid back against her pillow once more. On the way to the kitchen, Paula pulled the cordless phone from the cradle it rested on and dialed the number from heart. She propped it against her shoulder as she took one of the juice glasses from the dish drainer and filled it half way with water, she turned off the tap as the phone was answered on the other end. "Hello, this is Paula Crock. I was wondering if there was anyway that the Dr. Jenkins would be able to fit in my daughter, Artemis, this afternoon...Well, it might just be me being a paranoid mother over a cold, but maybe a touch of pneumonia or some kind of respiratory infection...No, she's not running much of a fever...Tomorrow morning would be perfectly fine...Of course...I'll make sure to get her to the ER if she gets worse...Alright, thank you so much...You too."

Paula placed the phone back on its charging cradle as she rolled past it on her way back to Artemis's room. Stopping in the door way to the room, Paula took in her daughter with weary eyes. Her eyes were already closed, her hair loose on the pillow (she could never sleep with it pulled up), she had turned onto her side at some point in her absence and her face was where Paula could see it. After a quick survey of her face, Paula nearly kicked herself for not looking sooner. Her daughter looked terrible even when she was relaxed. The bags under her eyes were darker than she had ever seen them and her mouth was set in a troubling frown, that worried Paula more than anything. Why hadn't she noticed it sooner?

A light knock from the front door pulled Paula from her thoughts as it echoed through the apartment. She wheeled herself to the front door and looked out the peephole that Artemis had managed to install with the help of Ollie and a power drill. A lanky red head was on the other side of her door looking a little uncomfortable. Know that even though she looked fairly useless confined in the wheelchair, she figured that her skills were still on par enough to take out a skinny teenage boy. Unlocking the door and pulling it open, a smile on her face, she noticed the boy had pulled out his phone and was consulting it, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Can I help you, dear?" His face was startled when she addressed him. Immediately, he shoved his phone into his pants pocket and smiled nervously.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Wally West and I'm a fri-...teammate of Artemis's," his voice cracked as he began to say 'friend'. Paula's smile widened and her eyes warmed.

"Of course. I remember Artemis telling me about you," Paula nodded and Wally continued a little more at ease.

"I was wondering if I could talk to her for a minute. We kind of got int-..." He sighed and rethought his words. "I did something and I'd like to apologize to her if she's around."

"I'm afraid that she's in bed, sick," Paula frowned. Artemis hadn't mention Wally much recently, or at all, since her tirade a few weeks prior. "Would you like me to give her a message or I could have her call you when she wakes up?"

"No, no," Wally had raised his hands frantically, panic on his face. "It's probably for the best, anyways. Just don't tell her...don't tell her that I stopped by, please?"

"She doesn't talk about you as much, you know," Paula regarded the boy with curious eyes. "Not after last week. That's when it happened, didn't it?"

Wally was silent, unsure of whether or not he was in had stepped into a situation with a very overprotective parent or not.

"She's not as happy either," Paula sighed. "What ever it is that happened, it shook her pretty hard. She's just got a good poker face, like her father and I."

"Apparently, she got a lot more than her poker face from her father," his tone was borderline bitter laced with guilt and Paula was relieved. Artemis had finally told them.

"She might have, Wally, but she is not her father, she's far different then him," her voice was soft and eye compassionate as she smiled at the boy. "She's different from me, as well. That's because she is Artemis and no one else. The choices she makes are her own, just as the ways she utilizes her skills are hers and hers alone."

"You're right, Mrs. Crock. Completely right," this time Wally sighed. "I just kind of flew off the handle. Sensory overload or something. I couldn't deal with her at the time."

"Artemis has always demanded a lot of caution," Paula chuckled and grinned at Wally. "She'll forgive you if you ask for her to; she might make you jump through hoops to get there, but she's always been a believer of forgiveness."

"I hope you're right, Mrs. Crock," Wally now grinned at the older woman. "I guess I'd better go though. I gotta get back to school before lunch is over, but can I ask you something first?"

"Of course, Wally," Paula had started to recede back into the apartment, but stopped and smiled warmly once more at the red head.

"Were you really the Huntress?" his eyes were wide and Paula couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Artemis had to to get her skills from somewhere, didn't she?" with a wink and a grin, Paula closed the door.

This left Wally standing in the hallway of the rundown apartment building, grin growing on his face as her got over the initial awe.

* * *

><p><strong>Wally and Paula tiiiiiime! Yaaaaaay!<strong>  
><strong>That's a little step in the right direction, right? I think so. I really, really do.<strong>

**Eventually we'll get to the Wally spills his guts drabble...hopefully.**  
><strong>So...I noticed that the MeganConner chapter has the least amount of hits...**  
><strong>It's like you guys knew that it was pure crap and skipped on to the RoyOllie time instead.**  
><strong>It's okay. Ollie and Roy rock so hard. :P<strong>

**Well I feel like sharing because this is rather overwhelming for me. In the week and two hours this story has been published the hits on it are insane (to me, at least) and I know that I update it every day, so it shouldn't be, but it is. So here's the stats so far:**  
><strong>Hits: <strong>7,622  
><strong>Reviews: <strong>20  
><strong>Favs: <strong>16  
><strong>Alerts: <strong>26  
><strong>C2s: <strong>0

**Why no C2s love me? :c**  
><strong>Joking.<strong>  
><strong>You guys are great, if I keep updating and you peoples keep reading, this story'll zoom past 10k views in about three more days.<strong>  
><strong>I want to hug you all and thank you for being awesome readers and reviewers!<strong>  
><strong>So keep it up and I'll make sure to keep you updated.<strong>  
><strong>Happy Thanksgiving, guys! (Or Happy Third Thursday of the Month to you non-celebrators! Be happy just because you can. c:)<strong>

**Until next time!**  
><strong>(Go on and consider hitting that pretty, little review link, yes? Let me know what you think or just gimme a request or something.)<strong>


	16. Time

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Time"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"Heya Megan!<p>

"Oh, hey Robin," The green skinned girl smiled down at the younger boy, completely ignorant to the mischievous quality of his grin.

"So Megs, do you happen to have the time?"

"Of course," pulling the cell phone from the pocket that in reality wasn't a pocket, she glanced at the bright numbers on the screen. As she opened her mouth to repine, the Boy Wonder cut her off.

"Ha! If you have to check it, then you don't have it!" Robin smirked and was gone before Megan could look up from the small device.

"But I have it right here..."

**.**

**...**

**.**

"Kaldur! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Robin slung his arm around his favorite, gilled leader. Kaldur did not shrug the arm off, but did look slightly weary of the smaller boy.

"What were you seeking me out for, Robin?" Kaldur asked. Only his semi-curiosity and manners spurned him to ask.

"Oh yeah. I was just wondering if you had the time," Kaldur noted the unusually unprovoked in Robin's voice and sighed internally.

"Of course. Just allow me to check for you," Kaldur turned towards the panel on the nearest door, flicking through the menu until her reached the screen stating the time, date, and temperature. As he opened his mouth to respond, the high pitched cackling of the now doubled over Boy Wonder caused him to turn questioningly.

"Dude, I totally got you! If you gotta check it, you don't have it!"

Kaldur forced his eyebrow to not arch skeptically and a placated smile on his lips.

"I suppose you have gotten me then," the words when unheard as the quick acrobat had already escaped Kaldur's company unnoticed. With a sigh Kaldur shook his head, eyes rolling in the habit he had accidentally picked up from Wally and Artemis. "I do not understand the customs of...Robin."

**.**

**...**

**.**

"Supey! Hey man! Can I ask you something?"

"..." the clone didn't turn his head towards Robin, just waited for the oncoming question.

"Do you have the time?" Robin was blunt in his asking and stared at the larger, and technically, younger boy.

"There's a clock over there," pointing directly at the large, digital display clock to his left, Conner still hadn't turned his head from the static on screen. Robin glared unhappily at the boy.

"Thanks, Conner," he said disappointedly, sulking away from the front room.

**.**

**...**

**.**

"Wall-Man! "Bout time you got here!" Bumping fists with his best friend a large grin on his face, he opened his mouth to continue when Wally cut him off.

"Dude, don't even try. I don't have time and I'm not gonna find it for you," Wally snickered and Robin glared.

"How did you know?" The boy in sunglasses whined, in a rare moment, betraying hit age.

"Megs texted me." The simple reply was enough to cause the younger boy to groan aloud.

"Man. You and Conner just have to ruin it for me," Robin scowled at his friend who was patching his shoulder, a large grin on his face.

"Maybe you can get Artemis," Robin raised his eyebrow at Wally's casual use of the name. Wally took no notice of the odd look and raised brow as he continued speaking. "So? What do you say?"

"Yeah...No can do, Wall-man," Robin shrugged.

"What? Why not?"

"Already got her at school. She's oblivious, not stupid."

"I don't know about that, man."

"Wanna try it on BC when she shows?"

"Nah. The joke's kind of lame anyways."

"Is not!"

"Totally lame, bro."

"Authorized: Fourteen, Black Canary."

"Fine Wall-Man. Your loss."

As Robin looked behind him towards his friend he was only a little surprised at the lack of the red head. Turning to look at the Zeta Tubes, he saw their den mother rolling her eyes and smacking at the speedster.

"Wally! That was my joke!"

* * *

><p>This was lame. Because I'm lame at writing the Boy Wonder. :c<br>Sad times bro. Sad Times.

Alright, hopefully I'll have another one out tomorrow...or later today, whatever. Thanksgiving was hell, but it's over.  
>Thank goodness.<p>

Until next time! Think about review, if you would!


	17. Nothing

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Nothing"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"Did you ever think about what Batman, Canary, and the rest of the Justice League do when there are no villains to fight?" Megan pondered aloud, stirring the bowl of cookie dough carefully.<p>

"They probably have jobs, Megan," Artemis licked her finger and turned the page of her magazine. She rolled her eyes at the pictures littering the new page. It was the annual 'Superhero' edition. "And families. They're probably off doing everyday stuff like everyone else."

"That's rather anti-climactic," Megan sighed, placing the bowl on the counter to take in the page Artemis was reading. There was an excellent picture of Captain Marvel saving a school bus on the right page. Artemis snorted and snapped the magazine closed much to Megan's dismay.

"Everyone has their secret identities, Megan," Artemis shrugged. "They're all allowed to lead a somewhat normal life on the side without everyone else knowing. For instance, what does your uncle do in his down time?"

"Well, he's a private investigator, I believe," Megan tapped her chin at she began to place cookies onto a backing sheet. Artemis smacked her forehead.

"You're not supposed to tell me, Megan. That's the point of a _secret identity_," Artemis stressed spooning out a little glob of the cookie dough with her finger and popping it into her mouth. Megan looked scandalized.

"Artemis, I have to bake it first!"

"Actually it's pretty good raw," Artemis grinned at her green friend and flipped the magazine back open.

"Just wait until they're cooked, alright? I don't want you getting sick from eating raw dough," Megan's voice contained a little bit of mother concern that made Artemis smile for a few seconds.

"Baked cookies are always better," flipping to one of the few non-hero pages in the magazine, Artemis commented carelessly.

"Megan's cookies will always be best in my book," Artemis tensed slightly at the sound of Wally's, ahem, suave voice in the kitchen. "So what're you doing, Megs?"

"Actually Artemis and I were talking about what the League members do in their downtime," Megan responded cheerily. The legs of a bar stool chair screech against the floor as it was pulled out and Wally placed himself into it. Right next to Artemis.

"Really? So what's Martian Manhunter do in his downtime?"

"Well he's a-" Megan paused and glanced towards Artemis who was focusing very intently on her magazine. "Actually, I can't tell you."

"What? Oh come on, Megan!" Wally frowned. "Why not?"

"Because every hero is entitled to a secret identity and a somewhat normal life," Megan grinned at Artemis, who didn't see it due to her eyes being glued to the magazine, an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Man. They all know what we do and who we are," Wally countered, frown replaced with a grin. "We should be able to tell each other about our mentors. You know, to gain perspective."

"Those aren't our secrets to tell," Artemis spoke carefully. Each word was calm, but her eyes were still on the pages of the magazine.

"Oh, hey. Look. Blondie's alive," Wally nudged the girl in the ribs with his elbow, goofy grin present. "I thought you were comatose or something."

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at that," her response was monotonous, but it didn't seem to faze the speedster. Megan was quick to cut him off just as he was about to continue his one-sided playful banter with the archer.

"What does the Flash do when he's not fighting then?" Wally's attention was immediately back on the pretty Martian that was speaking to him.

"He works and, uh, well...he spends time with the family. Just normal, everyday things...or...Or sometimes he does absolutely nothing," Wally's brow furrowed as he explained.

"Do you think Batman and Superman do nothing as well, when they get a break?"

"No way! Batman doing nothing is like celebrating February 31st!"

"Excuse me?" Megan looked confused. "There isn't a February 31st."

"That's the point, Megan," Artemis sighed. She closed her magazine as she stood and began leaving the room. "Save me a couple of cookies, I've got some homework to do."

"I...don't get it?" the two watched as the blonde disappeared from the room. Megan's face held confusion mixed with worry; whereas, Wally's was just sad. "Why is that the point?"

"It doesn't happen, Meg," Wally's response was dull as he turned his stare to the island surface in front of him. "There's no way that Bats would ever just sit around and do nothing."

"Oh."

* * *

><p><strong>This bothered my brain until I got up and typed it out. So there you go. A little development in the WallyArtemis situation.  
>You guys can go ahead and officially consider these drabble connected, something that was not intended in the least.<br>**

**Now I'm going back to bed.**

**Be sweet and review so I'll have something to read before I have to go to work? And then I'll wanna type something up while I'm at work for you guys?  
>Consider it.<strong>

**Until next time! **


	18. Casual

**Disclaimed**

**.**

**"Casual"**

**.**

Artemis surveyed the red headed speedster from across the room, bow clenched tightly in her hand. Dressed in training clothes, he had stopped sparring with Megan a few minutes ago. Insisting that she was wearing him out with how well she was doing in hand to hand. Megan had wandered off to watch the intense spar between Robin and Conner, this left Wally to his own devices. Apparently being left to his own devices translated intotalking animatedly to Black Canary; but for him it could be considered a casual conversation.

Casual.

The grip on her bow tightened slightly. He had been acting casual towards her for the past week. Acting like he hadn't walked out when she told him about her family. When she had told them all about her family. He was the only one that reacted negatively, if you could call walking away negative. Now he was acting as though it hadn't even happened.

That day in the kitchen, she had been suspicious about his demeanor so she removed herself from the chance of being caught in one of his schemes. Leaving the room left her to analyze his words and his intentions.

over the next few days her suspicion had grown into confusion when no mass scheme had come unravelled. The designated training times went pleasantly, something that befuddled Artemis. Wally had tried to include her in his normal banter between hitting on Megan and flirting shamelessly with Black Canary. He took her short comments and silence in stride, not picking a fight or even commenting on her lack of response. Black Canary hadn't even bothered pairing them up to spar due to the odd way they were acting.

"Hey Blondie! Gonna pass out any time soon? Laying in bed all day was eventually going to catch up on you, ya know," Wally's fight with Megan had ended when the Martian and speedster's legs became tangled. Both had hit the floor in failure.

Artemis had to force herself not to reply. Instead, she strung an arrow in a fluid movement and loosened it an instant later. The normal practice arrow sunk into he target with an almost inaudible sound, dead center.

"You might have lost your figure while you were sick, but at least you still have your aim," the dig caused Artemis to frown and roll her eyes. "Although that's not much to brag about."

This casual crap was really about to piss her off.

..

**Here's a little short one to hold you guys over until later tonight.**

**Until later, kids!**


	19. Color

**Disclaimed**

**.**

**"Colors"**

**.**

Like in any other situation, the boys of the covert ops team didn't exactly stress about what they wore while kicking butt and taking names. They tended to pride themselves on being ready before the two girls on the team. In reality, Megan and Artemis beat three out of four of them to debrief, dressed and ready to go. Megan had taken up the habit of waiting for Superboy, who was always battle ready in his normal clothing. Though they were beaten in quickness of being ready, that didn't mean that they cared about what they wore. They didn't...but they were content.

Aqualad thought that his attire was almost as simple as Superboys. Red muscle shirt and black pants. Water bearers strapped to his back, as always. Normally, he would never have chosen red for himself, he found that a nice dark blue would have suited him better. He went with the red because of Tula. The whole uniform was picked with the help of Tula. Though the pants were a bit tighter than he liked, Tula had said that they showed off his muscular legs (with a girlish giggle, he remembers fondly). Just as the red shirt went well with his skin tone and his hair. She said that it was a nice in between for the contrasts. He still is glad he chose the red.

Superboy wore civvies which is generally a big no-no for any superhero. He made it clear to his teammates that he wouldn't be involved with the ridiculous of ridiculous materials, he was perfectly happy with common materials. Simple black t- shirt, jeans, and boots completed his outfit. The normalcy was something he craved and the spandex just weren't all that appealing to him. So he wanted to rebel a little from what a super hero was supposed to be, that didn't have to do with Superman...well not much, at least.

Both Robin and Kid Flash utilized the eye catching color combination of red and yellow. Where Robin needed to blend into the dark surroundings of Gotham City, Wally West was welcome to be seen by the citizens of Central City in broad daylight. The Flash was very lenient on the his partner's lack of desire to be covert, as he knew the wanting of being known and acknowledged from when he was younger. Whether it was the desire to be know and remembered, Wally's bright yellow costume was befitting. His personality was bright and eye catching just like his costume.

This left the youngest member of the team, Robin. While his partner was garbed completely in black, he had skipped on an all black ensemble to avoid the awkward matching feeling between him and the Batman. Instead, he...er...Alfred chose to accent a black cape and pants with red and yellow. The colors were over done and two commonly used colors amount heroes, but when he had added green to the original design the overuse seemed to dissipate. Robin may want to be remember, but not for looking like a human traffic light. In the end, the uniforms didn't matter. The Boy Wonder was know throughout the world as part of the dynamic duo; despite the colors of his attire.

In all honesty, the two youngest males of the team did love the colors they got to sport in the name of justice.

Among superheroes, colorful uniforms were the norm. So of course the new generation were privy to the use of bright eye catching colors as well. While Robin and Kid Flash sported fairly bright colors the other two male members of the team utilized more subtle shades...and lacked a traditional uniform altogether. Despite their differences in color concerning clothing, they could all agree on one thing.

Despite the difference of colors in their own uniforms and the amount of other colors used in others' outfits, they all would agreed. Despite the fact that it was a lesser used color (not counting the Lanterns, because there were hundreds of them), they had all warmed up to the color green after joining the team.


	20. Explode

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Explode"**

**.**

* * *

><p>She knew that it was going to happen, but she figured that it would be later rather than sooner. Or she would at least wait until she got the chance to pull him away from the rest of the team to confront him calmly. The longer she sat in his presence, the more time she spent drowning out his words, and studying him more than she would ever admit, the more she felt like her control was slipping. Her nerve to confront him had taken a few days to build, and now that it was built up, all her plans went to hell.<p>

Later quickly became sooner. Alone turned into an audience waiting for a show. All calm was forgotten.

"...what do you say, Arty?"

"Wait. What?" Artemis snapped out of her thoughts and focused her eyes back on the speedster. The same speedster she was ready to ask what his deal was, that was currently grinning at her in his normal manner. Rolling his eyes, Wally sighed and nudged the younger boy next to him. Robin ignored him for the most part, adjusting his glasses and scooting away slightly at the look on Artemis's face.

"Rob and me are going to see a movie, and we were gonna see if you wanted to come along, Blondie," Wally repeated a little slower, enunciating the words carefully for blonde. She snapped her eyes up harshly at the boy, her face pulling back in a frown.

"Why are you doing this?" Her voice was soft, much softer than it normally should have been. The hard edge in her voice wasn't present as she had intended and inwardly she cringed, she sounded like someone had kicked her puppy for Pete's sake.

"What?" Wally was caught off guard and his eyes widened significantly. His posture was now stiff and by the look on his face, he wasn't exactly sure how to proceed.

"What? Are you serious, Wally?" The edge was back in her voice and to her own ears it sounded cruel, but she paid it no mind. It was only fair. "Why are you acting like this? Like nothing happened?"

Robin's interest peaked at the suggestive statement, his inner child giggling at the perverse train of thought.

"W-what! What are you talking about? Nothing did happen!" Apparently, Wally's thoughts had gone to the same place as Robin's as he stuttered in his defense.

"Stop being stupid!" Artemis growled. "The night the lights went out. Ever since then. You've been acting...normal."

"What's your point...?" Wally was now regarding her nervously.

"You can't do that," Artemis choked out, looking down at the floor. Tears were pricking at her eyes and she didn't want to seem upset in front of the speedster. "You can't go on acting like you didn't walk out on the truth. Something that I trusted you with, because you claimed I didn't want you guys to know anything about me."

"What do you want me to do?" Wally's voice was frustrated as he replied snappily. "How do you want me to act, Artemis?"

"Like something happened!" Artemis yelled, eyes still planted on the floor.

"Just so we can fight it out?" Wally raised his own voice to match hers, but his eyes were glued on her. He watched as her fists clenched, her shoulders tense up, and the smallest tremor run through her body. Her face was still looking in the direction of the floor, but he could imagine the rage on her face.

"Yes! That's what we do. I don't forget those kind of things," she spoke coldly. "And I'm definitely not one for acting like something didn't happen."

"You know, fighting doesn't solve everything," Wally matched his tone to hers the best he could. Her posture became even more rigid and she raised her head to glare at him fiercely.

Wally stopped and took in her face despite the frustration he felt. Her lips were pressed thin, into a tight line with the corners turned downward. When he caught sight of her eyes, he stopped and suddenly he felt hollow at the sight of tears in her steely grey eyes, threatening to fall if she so much as blinked wrong.

"No. You're wrong. We fight because it does help solve things, that's why we're super heroes and not villains," Artemis spat out harshly, a sob almost breaking her words. Wally could only stare helplessly, mouth open with his mind drawing a blank on coming up with a response. Artemis took his silence negatively and continued. "You can't pick your parents, Wally; but I can sure as hell not make the same mistakes they did."

She strode past him, shoulder hitting his forcefully. Her steps were quick and, unconsciously, Wally knew she ached to break out in a run to get away. In fact, he was sure that the moment she was out of sight she had broke into a run because mere seconds later they heard a confirmation that she had left Mount Justice.

"Recognized: Artemis. B. Zero. Seven. "

An arm swung around Wally's shoulders and the smaller boy looked disconcerted by the small confrontation. "We better get going, the movie's about-"

"I'm not going," Wally's short answer silenced his friend. "I'm going for a run."

There were no more words exchanged between the two until Wally reached the door.

"You know, 'sorry' probably would have been the best thing to say to her," Robin piped up before Wally's hand could push open the door. Wally stopped, brow furrow.

"I know," he made no move to continue his actions. Shoulders slumped slightly in defeat, eyes closed in regret, and a sigh escaped his throat.

"She cried that night," Robin left the same way Artemis had sparing another second to add over his shoulder, "After you left, she cried."  
>Glancing over his shoulder, Robin saw the room was empty. The door swinging closed.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>I should have written this last night, buuuuut I finished the last chapter of my NaNoWriMo Novel. My final word count was 59,045 words.<strong>  
><strong>So I took the night off.<strong>  
><strong>Sorry. I figured I deserved it. <strong>

**I swear, you guys are gonna get pissed at me. Poor Wally and Artemis, I just keep putting them through this crap. Eventually all will be good again though.**

**Until next time.(Which should be no later than tomorrow!)**

**Support an author and review. c;**


	21. Letter

****Disclaimed****

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>  
><strong>"Letter"<strong>  
><strong><strong>.<strong>**

* * *

><p><em>Dear Artemis,<em>

_So, uh, hey. _

_I met your mom the other day. Did I tell you? Wait, of course I didn't tell you. You're not speaking to me. Or anyone else on the team. Actually, I'm pretty sure Canary's noticed that you've been skipping out on training too. She doesn't see too happy about it either. In all honesty, I figured you would have been over this by now; and you'd be back laughing at me with Robin or making snide comments like always. You're not though and it kind of bothers me. You really took me walking out to heart, huh?_

_It was a crappy thing to do, I know; but there was just so much...well, only one thing going on for me at the time. It's kind of a big thing though and I wasn't dealing to well with it. You just picked the wrong day to drop the bomb, I guess. Your parents being villains and all, I figured they'd be bad people. Like I said though, I met your mom. She seemed great; like she's a good mother and she cares about you more than anything in the world. She even smiled at me when I told her that I did something...not so great to you. Even after I made her daughter cry, she still smiled at me. Told me that you were always a believer of forgiveness._

_Oh, and that you had stopped talking about me. Very nice, Arty, who knew you were one to gossip to your mom._

_Look. I'm writing this letter because you won't listen any other way. You've ignored my calls and texts. Heck, I even wrote you an email. A full email with correct spelling and I'm pretty sure you deleted it. For all I know you'll pitch this in the trash as soon as you get it, thinking it's badly handwritten spam mail. (I'll have you know that I am not spam, thank you very much!) Hopefully, there's a small, tiny, incy-tinsey that you'll pick this up and read it without setting it on fire. _

_Megan misses you. Robin doesn't have anyone to troll with. Conner is left alone in his brooding corner and I don't think he likes it. Aqualad is enjoying the silence around here waaaaaay too much. If you would stop by every once in a while, ya know, like you're a part of this team or something, you would know how weird it is when you're mad and holding a grudge. _

_I think I forgot something. In fact, I know I forgot to write something, but I can't think of it. Don't you just hate when that happens? It'll bug you days and when you finally don't need to know it or forgot that you had forgotten in the first place, you remember. I hate that. I really do, but it must not be too important if I couldn't even remember to put it into a stupid letter. _

_This is not spam,_  
><em>Wally<em>

_P.S. Tell your mom, I said 'hello'._

_P.S.S. Not in the normal teenage guy kind of way, but a serious 'hello'._

_P.S.S.S. I figured if I wrote a 'P.S.' for whatever it is I forgot, I might remember. _

_P.S.S.S.S. It's not working._

_P.S.__⁵__: Ask your mom if I can have an autograph, ya know, for a souvenir._

_P.S(6)- Oh, well. I'll just text it you if I remember._

_.  
>. <em>

Wally West stared at the loose leaf piece of paper, brow furrowed in concentration. He still couldn't pin point what he had forgotten to add to the letter and he was positive that it would bother him until he remembered. Sighing and looking up from the counter, he watched as the green Martian floated by completely ignorant of his presence looking beyond downtrodden.

Without a second thought, Wally folded the letter, sealed the envelope, and placed a stamp in the corner. Artemis's address was written as neatly as he could manage in the center of the front, slating down slightly. He hadn't bothered with a return address.

Now all he had to do was get it to a mail box.

* * *

><p><strong>When you write an apology letter, isn't it customary to actually put an apology in there somewhere?<strong>


	22. Glowsticks

**Disclaimed**

**.**

**"Glowstick"**

**.**

**...**

Over the past few weeks, Megan had picked up a bad habit from some of the other cheerleaders at school. It had started with chewing gum and, at that point, it hadn't been too bad. When she ran out of gum, she had begun to chew on her pencils and pens, leaving small bite marks unique to only Megan. Currently, she was sitting at the table reading a magazine, squishing the straw of her soda mercilessly between her teeth over and over.

"Hey Megs," Wally slouched into a seat across the table. Megan glanced up and shot her friend a smile.

"Hey Wally, just get out of school?" She released her grip on the straw and sat the cup on the table, turning the page in her magazine.

"Yeah. I swear, it gets longer everyday," he groaned, letting his head sink to the surface of the table. One hand splayed to his left and the other tugging at his hair. Megan was about to dismiss the comment with a smile until something caught her eye.

"What is that?" She poked at the circular bangle around Wally's wrist. It was thick, looked to be made from some kind of plastic, but most importantly, it was glowing.

Wally raised his head just enough just to find out what she was questioning before letting it fall back down."Glowsticks. We had a pep rally today and some of the guys and I found their stash. You can have them if you want. I have at least a hundred more in my bag."

Wally lifted himself to unsnap the glowing jewelry from around his neck and wrists, sliding them across the table to the Martian. Megan regarded them closely before using the reverse method of Wally taking them off to put them on herself. She grinned in delight at the purple, green, and orange glow at her wrist.

"I'm gonna go find Rob," Wally pushed himself out of the chair lazily and smiled at the Martian once more. "Be careful not to break them. I think they stain or something."

"I will. Thank you so much, Wally!" Megan called to the retreating speedster. She went back to her magazine and fiddling with the bracelets at her wrist. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a glowstick that she missed putting on. Her eyes travelled from the worn straw of her soda to the similarly shaped glowstick and back again four more times. Megan glanced around the room, making sure that Connor wasn't around (he'd been claiming that chewing on stuff wasn't good for her teeth) before picking up the small cylindrical object and placing it between her teeth.

Her first bit was light, as though testing the strength of the stick. The second a little harder and she felt it give slightly, but she was just as happy with lighter chewing as it should logically do less damage to her teeth. She went back to reading her magazine happy.

Less than three minutes later, as she turned the page she caught sight of a startling image. This caused her to bite down harder than she intended. A small crack was heard and suddenly Megan's mouth was filled with a bitter liquid. Tossing the now leaking glowstick down, she immediately spit into her cup of soda. In retrospect, it was the right thing to do as she didn't know what was in the tube or if it was poisonous; but at that moment she had to go hunt down something to rid that horrible taste from her mouth which meant she had to stand the taste longer than she would have liked.

She floated quickly towards the kitchen for a nice glass of water to rinse her mouth. Standing at the refrigerator when she entered was Kaldur. He regarded her quizzically as she hurried to fill a glass with water.

"Megan, are you well?" He asked, concern dripping from his voice. Megan was unable to leave his concern unanswered.

"Oh. I'm fine. I just need to wash this horrible taste out of my mouth," she chirpec happily as she answered him. She didn't even catch the wide eyed, startled look on his face.

"Megan! You can not be well," Kaldur insisted and less than a minute later they were joined by a worried Superboy (who apparently had been eavesdropping at the mention of Megan's name) trailed closely by Robin. Kid Flash brought up the rear a few seconds later. A light flush colored Megan's cheeks at the attention.

"Megan, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Superboy's voice held a more tender concern than Kaldur's and it nearly made Megan melt right there.

"No, no. I'm fine," she held her hands up in a mock surrender. "I'm just washing a bad taste from my mouth."

The room had gone silent and the four boys stared at her. The looks on their faces ranged from shock to horror and Megan had no idea as to why they looked that way. All of a sudden, Wally burst out in peals of laughter and all eyes were turned (accusingly) towards him.

"Megan," he managed between his laughter, "Please tell my you didn't bite one of those glowsticks. Please."

Robin joined his friend in laughter as the situation was clearer to him now, Superboy turned his eyes back to her looking rather disapproving, and Megan was beginning to feel frustrated.

"Megan, we've talked about this," Superboy's voice was just as disapproving as his expression.

"What are you guys talking about? I just have this really bad taste in my mouth," Megan's voice had taken on a slightly irate tone. She cocked her hip to the side and scowled, just as Artemis had taught her in attpemt to seem a little more intimidating. Kaldur was the only one that noticed, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Oh man. She looks like Artemis," Robin cackled as he doubled over in laughter, using one hand on Wally's shoulder to steady himself.

"What is going on?" She gave up the cocked hip and scowl in favor of stamping a foot and a pout.

"Megan, your mouth is a rather bright shade of pink," Kaldur's lips had twisted up into a smile as he responded. Superboy was looking sternly as her while the other two continued laughing.

Megan "eeped" softly and was quick to to returning to her original task. She rinsed her mouth twice for good measure and grinned at the four boys.

"Better?" She widened her grin to show off her pearly whites and Superboy shook his head. The laughter became more hysterical with a simple glance.

"No. Your teeth are still pink."

**...**

**It was time for a "someone other than Wally and Arty" one.**

**Or it seemed like it was for me. Plus when you get a random text at four in the morning saying someone's mouth is blue and then asking if they should be scared of death by glowstick, you just really can't let that kind of thing be passed up, huh?**

**I think Kaldur might get another one soon...because Supey and I don't really get along...meaning he doesn't talk enough for me. I'm bad at broody. :c**

**And thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter thus far (the super sweet two of you burning the super early oil!)**

**I was scared the letter thing was going to be disliked and dismissed. **

**I still think for it to be considered an apology letter "sorry" has to be in there somewhere...any where..in Morse code (yes, Morse code) or something for heaven's sake. It made me giggle nonetheless. And so did the responses so far. c:**

**Keep it up people and this is what you get! Three updates in less than twelve hours!**

**So go on and review if you would. **

**Until next time!**


	23. Reality

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Reality"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"Come on, Conner. Can't we watch something else?" Robin whined from his seat, left of the clone. He'd been patient, watching static on the television screen for the past forty minutes, but now he was bored. "Like an actual television show."<p>

The clone turned his head towards the Boy Wonder and grunted after a moment. Robin was quick to take the sound as a 'sure, go ahead' and pounced on the remote contoller. He was quick to flip from the static to the local news before he switched to guide, searching the channels' programs at an alarming speed. Conner stayed quiet, but followed the movement on-screen with intense interest. After ten minutes of browsing, Robin came up right back where he started.

"We have access to every broadcast in the world; and the most interesting things on are the Jersey Shores marathon and My Little Ponies. There is something wrong there," he groaned, but flipped to the reality show nonetheless. They sat in silence watching the rest of the current episode of the show. Conner watched, his interest peeked at the sight of orange skinned people fighting amongst one another and their recorded drunken antics. When the credits began to roll up the screen, Robin was quick to change the channel to the colorful cartoon he deemed to be interesting. He left it on that show rather than changing it back to the reality show that had interested Conner so much.

"Man, some of the stuff they put on TV. Can you believe they try to call that crap 'reality television'?" Robin laughed and quieted down to watch the opening of the pony cartoon. He laughed out loud at the silly antics of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Superboy choose that moment to clear his throat.

"I was watching that."

Robin stared at his friend for a long moment. A skeptical look on him face while his lips were pulled out in a half scowl.

"What? They were funny. I want to know what 'GTL' means too," Conner shrugged aimlessly.

"Really, Supey? Jersey Shore?" Robin gained his tenacity back and snorted in amusement. "You look more like a brony to me."

"Brony?" Confusion etched into Conner's expression.

"You know, a bro that likes ponies? "Robin questioned rhetorically. "A brony."

"Oh," Conner's eyes turned back to the screen, taking in the vivid scene on the television He sat in silence until the end of the episode. During the catchy ending theme, he turned towards the thirteen year old.

"Robin?"

"Yeah, Supey?"

"Are you a brony?"

* * *

><p><strong>Hm.<strong>

**I don't know where this came from...I had fully intended to write a Kaldur one, but Superboy and Robin popped out of nowhere...**  
><strong>Maybe next time?<strong>  
><strong>I'll try, I promise.<strong>


	24. Flush

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Flush"**

**.**

* * *

><p>"Hey, Kal! What's up? You look kind of down," Wally patted his Atlantian friend on the back as he walked up.<p>

"It is nothing, Wally," Kaldur's mouth pulled downward even more than before.

"No way, man," Wally ceased his friend from leaving the room. "There's something wrong. I'm your friend, you can tell me."

"Wally, I insist there is no-" Wally held up his hand halting Kaldur's speech.

"You're not leaving until you tell me, man."

"Since you will not cease until I tell you: Francis has passed on," Kaldur spoke with a straight face. Wally's face crumpled into a frown and he threw his arms around his friend, pulling him into a bear hug.

"Dude, I am _so_ sorry! I didn't even think that it might bug you to tell me. I'm seriously sorry for your loss. If there's anyth-" Wally stopped his apologetic rant and pulled back confused. "Wait. Who's Francis?"

"Francis," Kaldur sniffled slightly. "Is the fish you and Artemis bought for me."

"Wait, what? Fish, what fi-Oh! The goldfish we bought you!" Wally exclaimed when it dawned on him. "Man, I forgot we bought him for you. I'm so sorry, Kal."

"It is fine, Wally," Kaldur gave a reassuring smile to his friend. "Inbreeding fish often cause shorter lives among the off spring and it is to be expected of on bought from a franchise pet store."

"We should at least give it...him a proper funeral," Wally backed off his friend and ran a hand through his hair. Returning the smile, he nodded a little more convincingly. "The proper funeral for a goldfish at least."

"Are you speaking of flushing him down the toilet?" Kaldur deadpanned, an unamused look on his face.

"Well...uh...yeah?" Wally fidgeted slightly at the look he was recieving from the team leader.

"There is nothing proper about such a practice, Wally," Kaldur shot the speedster a firm look and began to leave the room. "Francis deserves to be returned to the ocean as he deserves. I will properly return him to the ocean this afternoon."

"Oh," Wally replied uncertainly. "Sorry, Kal."

"I expect you to be there," Kaldur spoke once more, then adding as an afterthought. "Please try to get in touch with Artemis. I would like if she could attend as well. She was the one that gave me Francis in the first place."

* * *

><p><strong>It's short, I know. <strong>  
><strong>I did really feel bad that Kal didn't get the time I said he would, so this kind of popped into my mind...So there were go.<strong>  
><strong>I think I should do the 'proper burial'. What do you think?<strong>

**Until next time (you should review!)**


	25. Absent

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**"Absent"**

**.**

* * *

><p>Richard Grayson waited on his normal perch in Gotham Academy's North Quad, bright blue eyes searching with no avail. Next period would be his free period and normally it was shared with a slightly caustic blonde. The blonde was nowhere to be found. It worried him slightly, as it punctuality was a big deal to Artemis and she never seemed to miss school either. When he had hacked into her records, he had seen that she had only ever missed one day in elementary school. Other than that, her attendance record had been perfect. Routine was something that Artemis apparently valued greatly in her civilian life.<p>

A frown tugged at his lips as he watched one of her only friends at the school begin to cross the area talking to Barbara Gordon. As they passed by him, he called out ignoring the warning bell that sounded.

"Hey Babs! Bette! Wait up," hopping down from the short, stone wall he was currently sitting on, he joined in step with the two girls.

"Hey, Dick," Babs greeted him with a grin. Bette only offered a small smile, her face shone with concern even through that. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd seen Arty today? She usually gets coffee with me during free period," he asks the red head casually; in truth, he really does want his normal coffee, but knowing where Artemis was ranked pretty high on his priority list as well. Keeping track of people was once of those things he had pick up from Bruce. He eyes Bette carefully out of the corner of his eye; and at the mention of Artemis' name the frown on her face intensifies. Immediately, his own concern overrides his curiosity.

"She's probably just sick," Babs shrugs and turns to regard Bette, who has first period, AP Literature, with the girl in question.

"No, she's not sick" the normally cheerful blonde murmurs and shakes her head.

"Then where is she?" Dick asks quizzically and Barbara's expression matches his tone to the tee.

"Look, you can't tell anyone. I wasn't even supposed to hear it, but I was running a little late this morning," both Babs and Dick grinned, Bette ran late _every_ morning. She continued giving them a serious look. "I mean it, tell absolutely no one because it might be false. It could just be teachers gossiping like they normally do or something."

"And we get to be the gossiping students then?" Babs laughed lightly. "I like the way that sounds. Now tell us or we'll be late for gym."

"Alright, alright. On my way in to class, I heard Mr. Jenkins talking to Prof. Dudley right before the bell rang," Bette began, a little louder, biting her lip slightly. Dick and Babs had stopped and moved closer to the blonde in anticipation to hear what she had heard. "Mr. J was talking about how it was a shame to have lost such a bright student, especially when going to school here opened multiple doors no matter what your background was. Duds agreed and then said that she had been looking forward to having Artemis next year. She said that the girl's parents were crazy to decline the remainder of the scholarship!"

"Wait," Babs said slowly, holding one hand up as though it helped process what she had just heard. "Artemis transferred back to North? And declined the rest of her scholarship? Is she crazy?"

"She doesn't go here anymore?" Dick was astounded. Hadn't Artemis and her mom made a deal about her coming to school here? If she had that she would get to continue her superhero thing on the side? Wasn't that what Ollie told Bruce?

"That's what I heard them say and then Mr. J didn't call even call her name for attendance," Bette frowned once more. "It's a shame. She was really smart and I thought the two of us were getting along so well."

Overhead, the final bell rang and once more it was paid no mind. Bette and Babs had gym, while Dick had free time so no one would notice them being just a tad late. Even on the beautiful, sunny day, the three managed to look somber. Two saddened by the loss of a new member of their little clique and the third internally worried about what this translated into for the team.

"You guys had better get to class. I'll call Bruce and see if he can sweet talk any information out of the secretary when he and Alfred come and pick me up today," Dick finally stated in a determined sort of voice. The two girls shared a look, but nodded.

"We'll see you at lunch," Babs called over her shoulder with a wave as the two rushed away into the gym facility where their class was held. Dick stared after them, still sorting and analyzing what Bette had said.

Finally, with a sigh he set off towards the open gates of the school to get his normal coffee. Pulling out his cell phone, he sent a quick text to Artemis. He didn't really expect a reply.

'Where are you?'

Without waiting for a send confirmation, he dialed Bruce's private office line.

"Hey, Bruce…No, no. Everything's fine…I can't just call to talk?...Well, actually. I just heard the weirdest thing…"

* * *

><p><strong>Don't hit me. M'kay? <strong>  
><strong>We will continue after this commercial break.<strong>

** Until next time (consider reviewing!)**


	26. Boys

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>  
><strong>"Boys"<strong>  
><strong>.<strong>

* * *

><p>Megan sighed as she entered the front room of the base. With her arms loaded down by bags of groceries, all she could do was glare at the offending objects. She floated towards the kitchen and began to put up the food stuffs that she had bought away into the cabinets, glancing over her shoulder every so often. Once she had finished, she moved back into the foyer and glared once more. Had she been less of a sweet person, she would have marched down to the beach and given the four boys on the team a piece of her mind. But her temperament was just as sweet as she was and she rather disliked confrontation, so she mumbled under her breath as she decided what to do.<p>

She had just cleaned and tidied the base before she had left. No one had been there all day and she had gotten a little stir crazy. The boys had gone to the mall, insisting that it should be a male-only outing for so called "bonding purposes", they hadn't been on a mission in a week, and without Artemis around she was feeling rather lonely. The only option she had left was to keep busy, this made her desire to scrub Mount Justice from the ceiling to the floors; and that's exactly what she did. Blasting music over the P.A. system, which Megan knew wasn't exactly a Bat-approved idea, but she did it nonetheless. The lack of moving obstacles (her teammates) made it a quick job. She ended up with plenty of time to spare, so she took her time showering, getting dressed, and grocery shopping to avoid being alone in the cave with nothing to do for too long.

With a final sigh, Megan moved to pick up the objects of her disdain, starting with the worn low top tennis shoes strewn in front of the television and the hallway entry way.

Definitely Wally's. The soles of the shoes were worn thin and the cloth that made up the shoes was tattered and threadbare. Plus, they didn't exactly smell the freshest. She set them by the wall, in clear view of the door so the speedster wouldn't tear the place apart looking for them.

She moved onto the open backpack on the coffee table. Half of the books were falling out of the opening and she could see smashed papers between those books. A glimpse of a familiar utility belt instantly told her who's bag it was.

Robin's. Of course the small Batman key chain attached to the zipper kind of gave that away as well. He was always one for the smallest details.

Kaldur's water bearers sat neatly on the couch. Unlike the rest of the items thrown about haphazardly, Kaldur had rested his weapons against the corner cushion with care. Megan appreciated that he hadn't thrown them down where he stood, but just to be fair she picked them up along with Robin's now zipped up backpack and leaned them against the wall beside Wally's shoes.

Finally, her eyes sought out the offending black cloth draped over the back of the couch. She wasn't exactly sure what it was or who's it was, but she was keen on finding out. Robin had a black cape and Wally had work a black jacket out today, but—

Oh.

Megan picked up the material and was met with a larger 'S' on the front.

Conner's. It was definitely, unmistakably Conner's tee-shirt. Her cheeks flushed slightly and she grinned shyly to herself. Now that she held it in her hands, she saw that the shirt was far too big to be Robin's, Wally's, or even Kaldur's. The material was soft and well worn, and to her it smelled like the cologne she had help Conner pick out a few months after they started at Happy Harbor High. Instead of placing it with the rest of the items that had defeated the purpose of her cleaning spree that day, she folded it carefully and placed it back where she had found it.

Megan's grin widened as she floated happily toward the beach entrance. She figured that she could learn to live with a little bit of clutter. Especially the clutter left around by her boys (_their_ boys, she corrects thinking fondly of Artemis.) Especially, with that clutter consists of shirts.

Superboy's shirts to be exact.


	27. News

**Disclaimed.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

"**News"**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p>So it was true. Robin stared at the ground, frown evident on his face. Normally, he didn't tune out when Bats was talking, but this time he couldn't help himself.<p>

"…you will not initiate contact with her under any circumstances. She made the choice to join this team, just like the rest of you, and she has the choice to leave at any time," Batman's gravelly voice washed over their ears. He was flanked by a very serious Black Canary and Green Arrow. "Do you understand?"

The weak nods and affirmative answers are enough reassurance for the Batman to turn, speak with Black Canary briefly and leave with Green Arrow immediately after. Black Canary was left with a bunch of long faced teenagers that looked like someone had just run over their puppy…or bicycle, Dinah never had been good with these kind of things.

"Batman wanted me to inform you that should Artemis change her mind, she will be allowed to return at **our** discretion," she put extra emphasis on 'our'. "Meaning you will have a say in it as well. So I guess if you don't like her, she's out of luck, huh?"

No one laughed with Black Canary at the little joke she made. Not even Canary herself.

"Why did she quit?" Megan's voice was small, and when she looked up at the blonde superhero, tear tracks were evident on her face.

Black Canary sighed, but answered as gently as she could, "Her own reasons, Megan. There not for me to tell."

"Oh," the Martian looked even more sad at the response if it were possible. Wally cleared his throat and Canary quickly switched her attention to him.

"So we can't call or text or—"

"No initiating contact, whatsoever," she replied firmly, cutting off the speedster's sentence.

"What if she contacts us first?" Robin continued on the topic, while Wally stood to his right looking rightly chastened.

"Then you may continue contact," Canary nodded, but made sure to add sternly, "But she must be the one to contact you."

"Right."

"No text messages in the middle of the night," a stern look was sent Megan's way. The green girl looked down to avoid the harsh look.

"No phone calls." Kaldur, who met the look with steely eyes.

"No letters." Conner shrugged when Canary directed her eyes at him.

"No hacking her email to get her attention." Followed by a look directed at Robin.

"No late night visits, smoke signals, skywriting, or any other ridiculous ways of communication you all can think of," Black Canary's eyes finally rested on Wally.

"Am I understood?"

The weak wave of affirmations seemed to appease their den mother as well. She dismissed them with a small wave, "Take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow we'll get back into our normal training."

With that she was gone as well. This left the five of them to their own devices and their lack of a certain archer.

"Whew. I'm glad I didn't send that letter," Wally chuckled nervously. "Canary would have my butt."

"What letter?" Megan asked, blotting tears from her cheeks.

"The letter that was stuck to the fridge?" Conner looked at the speedster, wrapping his arm around the Martian comfortingly. Wally opened his mouth to respond.

"The one that was addressed to Artemis?" The speedster sent a look in the Atlantian's direction, who raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more.

"Yes, it was on the fridge and address to Artemis. So what? It didn't send it or anything," Wally pouted as he answered the questions.

"You wrote her a letter? Seriously, bro?" Robin laughed as he nudged his friend with his shoulder. "She'd probably set it on fire as soon as she saw it."

"You wrote her a letter, but didn't send it?" Megan was appalled at the idea. "Isn't the point of writing a letter to convey a message?"

"Dude, and you wasted a stamp," Robin snickered.

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to send it, Megs. And the stamp was only forty-four cents, Robin. It's not gonna break the bank or anything," Wally sighed. A tense quiet engulfed the room.

"Perhaps I am the only one, but I feel as though we are being far less serious than the situation demands us to be," Kaldur frowned as he spoke gently to his now silent team.

"It's not like she's been here for the past week anyways," Wally pointed out snidely, with that he turned and left the hanger. The remaining members watched him go without a word.

"Don't worry about him, guys. That's just Wally's way of dealing with things. I'll talk to him," Robin called over his shoulder to catch up with his best friend.

"Do you think she'll come back?" Megan asked the team leader and the clone hopefully. Conner shrugged, but squeezed her hand lightly as a reassurance.

"That is something we do not know. We must hope that she will return to us at her own free will," Kaldur spoke calmly to the Martian before following the same path the speedster and Boy Wonder had taken, leaving the couple alone.

* * *

><p><strong>Now.<br>Seriously.  
>Don't kill me.<br>****Because...I love all of you? And if you did, there would never be a resolution.  
><strong>

**But you guys are really great. Fourteen freakin' reviews just today. O.O  
><strong>**Well in the last twenty four hours.  
>Wow. Just...Wow.<strong>

**Until next time! (Consider reviewing! c:) **


	28. Glue

**Consider this disclaimed.**

**...**

**.**

**"Glue"**

**.**

**.**

"How long do you think Robin will leave us here?" Megan asked slightly worriedly. Her hands

were planted firmly on the kitchen island and she sat on the edge of the stool to stay

comfortable in the position.

"I am not sure, Megan, " Kaldur replied honestly. "It is Robin we are speaking of."

"He wouldn't just…forget about us, right?" her voice now had a touch of hysteria to it and Kaldur

fought the urge to sigh.

"It is very doubtful. He must seek out the Batman and request the solvent to weaken the hold on

the glue," Kaldur tugged slightly at his forearm and hand that was stuck to the counter in the

same manner as Megan' s hands.

"Who puts glue with my lotion?" Megan grumbled, an unhappy frown on her face.

"Apparently, Robin," Kaldur chuckled, surprising Megan slightly.

"Why doesn't he keep it in his belt? He said it was 'Bat- Glue'," Megan giggles couldn' t be

stopped.

"Perhaps it would get stuck to his belt?"

"Or maybe to him," at that point, the two stuck to the counter top were laughing loudly. This

caught the eye of the passing speedster, who looked at them as though they had lost their

minds.

"What the heck are you guys doing?" Wally asked, a incredulous look on his face.

"We're stuck to the counter," Megan spoke between her giggles.

"Robin placed his 'Bat -Glue' with Megan's collection of lotions," Kaldur explained further. "It was

used before he could stop and inform us of its true purpose. Now we are bound to the surface of

the counter while Robin is searching for the solvent."

"Seriously?" the disbelieving look on Wally's face intensified. "You guys actually believed him?"

"Well, of course," Kaldur nodded shooting the boy an odd look.

"Hello, Wally! We are stuck to the counter," Megan wiggled her arms in show.

"You know that Rob is a master of mind freaks right? You' re not actually stuck," Wally stated

matter- of- factly, his chest puffed out slightly. He moved his hands to hover a few inches away from his face, wiggling his fingers for effect. "He makes you think you're stuck, but in reality,

you're not. You just trick your mind into thinking that you are and you can't do anything about

it. That is, until he comes back six hours later eating tacos claiming that he 'forgot' about you."

"Wally, did Robin happen to get you with this joke as well?" Kaldur asked seriously. The red head

blushed slightly and scowled.

"Yeah, he got me and Supey this morning. We were stuck to the bathroom door," Wally's sulked

slightly at the admittance.

"So how do we get unstuck?" Megan prompted the speedster.

"You just have to pull really hard. Or peel at it until it comes loose," Wally shrugged and began

searching the cabinets for a snack. Megan and Kaldur began tugging at their stuck appendages.

Less than a minute later, Megan had one hand unstuck while Kaldur could move his forearm

once more. They were free in only seconds more.

"For it being 'Bat- Glue', it is pretty yielding," Kaldur commented, peeling the pieces of dried glue

from his skin. Megan nodded in agreement as she rubbed her hands together to do the same.

"Pft. Robin's getting good because really? Bat- Glue? No such thing," Wally snorted. "It was just

Elmer's clear glue."

**...**

**Trolls gonna troll.**

**And...**

**Don't hit me for last chapter.**

**It will be continued in the next few chapters because I feel bad focusing on one character. I gotta share the love, guys!**

**Until next time. (REVIEW! You know you wanna)**


	29. Blonde

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>**  
><strong>**.****  
><strong>**"Blond"****  
><strong>**.****  
><strong>**.**

* * *

><p>Kaldur had finally had enough. Ever since Artemis had quit, the curse had fallen on him. He was fairly certain that it was unfair to him as well. While he had turned his other way when it was happening to Artemis, there was no way that he could turn the other cheek now that he had become the target. Wally, Robin, and occasionally, Megan had to cease their behavior immediately. Kaldur wasn't sure how Artemis had fared so well with the way they were treating him, but he definitely admired her for that now that she was gone. Atlantians generally were known for their thick skin, but perhaps her could learn a thing or two from the archer about the figurative skin. Until then, Kaldur wasn't sure if he could take another jab from the three.<p>

_Blonde jokes._

It had become a daily routine for Wally and Robin to corner their leader and bombard him with blonde jokes. Today, Megan had joined them hesitant to tell the jokes as she tended to mess up the punch line. Wally and Robin thought them to still be funny and proceeded to laugh their heads off at the mistelling of one. Luckily, Kaldur was able to use their distraction to his advantage and was out of the room before any of them noticed. He was now barricaded in his room and had been for the past two hours. He wasn't sure if he could listen to another jab at his hair color, something that he had absolutely no control over.

While Kaldur prided himself on being patient and collected, there was only so much that he could take before he snapped.

He sat in the cool, dark room in silence. Palms on his crossed knees and eyes closed as he attempted to clear his mind as Black Canary had instructed them to do a week before in training, before the other resident blonde had left. Artemis had actually snorted at the practice of meditation, but did comply after complaining a few times. She claimed that pressure and stress drives one to fight more fiercely, which may be true; but there are far more chances to slip up and make a mistake when there is stress. Despite the fact they had differing opinions on many things, Kaldur missed the girl.

A loud knock at the door caused the Atlantian teen to tense up.

"Hey, Kal! I've got another good one! '_A blonde asked someone what time it was, and they told her it was 4:45.' _You know what she said, Kal?" Wally's voice was loud through the door and Kaldur couldn't help but to clench his fists. "_'You know, it's the weirdest thing, I have been asking that question all day, and each time I get a different answer.' _Isn't that one the greatest? Me and Rob rolled on the floor when Megs told it to us!"

Kaldur forced himself not to grit his teeth, but to take a deep breath instead.

He missed Artemis more than she would ever realize.

And it wasn't just because he really did hate being the sole blond on the team.

* * *

><p><strong>We all know they would too. I would, if it were me.<br>****That blonde joke was once of the more cheesy ones I could find, so enjoy it.**

**And an interesting note on the spellings of 'blond' and 'blonde'.  
>'Blond' is the spelling for males; dating back to the Vikings or Nordics or something cool like that.<br>'Blonde' is the feminine spelling, but I don't remember why.  
>When people refer to 'blonde jokes' it is pretty universal to use the feminine spelling because they are referring stereotypically to the fact that women are inferior to men. <strong>

**That's just in case you all have any qualms on how I spelled blond/e in different places.**

**I liked writing this one, it made me smile just like the last one... and just like the next one. c:**

**Until next time (REVIEW!)**


	30. Run

**Consider it disclaimed.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

"**Run"**

**.**

* * *

><p>At this moment in time, Wally West doesn't think he can run fast enough to get away. He also thinks that Aunt Iris would be so disappointed in him; despite the fact that when she had told him not to run away from problems, she had meant it figuratively. He knew that her face would be disapproving when she found out that he had ruined another pair of shoes. Then the motherly concern would leak into her eyes when she found out why he had been running in the first place.<p>

The frown that furrowed his brow and forced his eyes into a squint caused him to miss a rather sizable...rock. An oddly shaped, moving "rock" that happened to pop up into his path out of nowhere. At the last moment, Wally spotted it's white and brown exterior and tried to screech to a halt. Instead, he ended up tumbling over what he would call later, the rock that tripped him up.

Falling flat onto his face, somewhere in Nebraska, definitely wasn't helping him run away from his problems.

Groaning, the speedster pushed himself out of the battered earth and luckily, he had learned young that when you fall you should always keep your mouth shut. Sometimes he did tend to forget the important lesson and ended up eating dirt. On those days, Uncle Barry didn't hesitate to laugh and slap him on the back, claiming a few more minerals wouldn't hurt.

"Stupid dog," Wally glared at the small spotted mutt that stared at him about ten feet away as he pushed himself into a squat, surveying the damage. The stupid thing hadn't even moved from where it was when he took his trip. It had just sat and stared curiously at the red headed teen that barreled over him, and into the earth a few feet away. With a yip at the teen, it began trotting Wally's way.

"No way. I don't want you!" Wally feel back onto his bottom, putting his hands out in front of him as though the dog would actually halt at his words. The dog continued happily, closing in on the boy, yipping a couple more times for good measure.

"Seriously, get away!" In honesty, despite the fact the dog might have ruined his best feature, Wally didn't mean it. He loved dogs. Cute, fuzzy dogs.

This dog, in particular, was both cute _and_fuzzy. So when it started pawing him knee, he knew he would be unable to turn it away. Patting it on the head, keeping an annoyed look on his face, he hoped that maybe the dog would wonder off and leave him be.

No such luck.

The dog was eager to pull itself into Wally's lap and stand on its hind legs, attempting to acquaint its tongue with Wally's face. Wally couldn't help to laugh and pet the dog affectionately. All animosity towards the small animal was quickly forgotten.

"Alright, alright," Wally chuckled still as he scratched the content dog behind the ear. "You win."

The dog had given up its attempt to clean the boy's face, choosing instead to paw at the hand that was now resting on the ground. Upon closer inspection, Wally took note of the long body of the dog and the short legs. The long ears were rounded and the muzzle had a slight downward arch. While its body was a dappling of white and brown with a few dark patches of black, the dogs eyes intelligent with what could only be described as an eyebrow like arch about each eye.

"Huh, a weenie dog," Wally spoke aloud, a goofy grin on his face as the dog continued to nudge and paw at his hand, while it lay on its side wriggling its long torso. He finally moved his hand and began to scratch the dog's stomach. The small animal seemed to sigh in satisfaction and its eyes began to drift shut.

"You know, you're brave for such a little thing," Wally muttered, his eyes looking around the quiet meadow that he had ended up. He decided that it wouldn't hurt him to sit for a few minutes. "You saw me coming and stood your ground. Hell, I don't even think you flinched when I got close. Maybe I should take a page from your book."

Wally had rested his hand for a moment in the grass next to the dog. It didn't last long as the dog barked, actually _barked_, something that was much louder than the yip it had made earlier. The sound was surprising and the fact that it came from such a small dog was even more surprising. The knitted together brow and seemingly glaring eyes blew that surprise out of the water. Wally sighed and began petting the dog once more. He didn't bother hiding the amused smile on his face.

"You remind me of someone, ya know?"

A small grunt, as Wally scratched under the nub that was considered the dog's leg.

"Her name is Artemis. She's like you. Small, but unrelenting. I think her bark might actually be worse than her bite. Sometimes. Although I'd be kind of scared to see what damage your bite could do."

Wally mindlessly moved his hand to scratch under the dog's neck. It lolled back to allow better access as it stretched its long body in the sun.

"She wouldn't have moved either. She would have stayed and met me head on, if it had been her. I guess it was your plan to meet me ankle on, huh?"

The dog ignored him in favor of the pleasant ministrations as Wally rubbed its tummy.

"Yeah. That one was definitely lame. Sorry. I joke when...well, I always joke. When I'm happy, mad, sad. It's how I work. Like I was saying though: Artemis, she's a lot like you. She doesn't run away from things like I was doing until you got in the way..."

Wally paused.

"Well...she didn't use to run away. I think I might have chased her off, in all honestly. I think that if she would shut up and listen for once, none of this would have happened. Everything would be alright. The team would still be together and none of this would be my fault."

Wally had withdrawn his hand as he spoke, knitting the fingers of his hands together. The dog's eyes were sad as they regarded them, as though it had understood what the speedster was saying. It pulled itself from its position on the ground and propped the stubby legs it was given onto Wally's leg, pawing lightly at the folded hands. It was then that Wally caught sight of the tag on the collar. He leaned closer, dodging a lick aimed toward his nose as he inspected the address printed on the small circular tag.

_532 Brook Lane_  
><em>Blue Hills, NE<em>

The phone number was printed on the reverse side, but Wally disregarded it as he hadn't brought his cell phone on his little expedition.

Smiling at the dog, he pushed himself to his feet and brushed off the seat of his jeans. Taking a good look around he saw a road a little ways off. He figured that the little dog was a long ways from home.

"I'll bet someone is missing you," he scooped up the daschund and was off. Though he travelled much slower that he would have normally, he was quick to locate a road sign with 'Blue Hills' on it. Only four miles down the road. The little dog really must have had a hard time with those short legs of his.

Wally discreetly entered the edge of town that was all residential houses and began searching for Brook Lane. At a normal walk, it still only took him twenty minutes to find and locate the home he was looking for. The small white house was trimmed in a sunny yellow and the yard flourished with brightly colored flowers and a large blossoming apple tree. The porch of the house was small and held two old fashioned rockers in a dark varnished wood that contrasted with the light colors of the house. Checking the mailbox for confirmation, Wally jostled the dog slightly. It looked up at him, tongue lolled out of the side of its mouth happily. Obviously the dog had enjoyed the rid.

Walking through the gate of the idealistic white picket fence and up the well-kept walk made Wally wonder what type of people lived here. He imagined a small Stepford-esque family with a beautiful wife, handsome husband, and Beaver Cleaver-like son. The small dog didn't exactly fit in that picture though. Wally's thoughts ceased as he stared at the brightly colored door. Without hesitation, he rang the doorbell.

It took a few minutes, but he heard the lock's tumblers turn and the door opened. A short, smiling, elderly woman beamed at him, ready and poised to ask what it was he wanted. Her eyes dropped from his face to the small dog in his hands and she gasped in surprise.

"Al! Oh, my! Where did you find him?" the woman asked in a slightly hysterical voice. The happy type of hysteria, Wally noted. She continued before Wally could even open his mouth. "We've been looking for him for almost a week now. We...we had thought the worst."

"Oh, I was just out with my parents and I saw him from the road," Wally quickly lied, a sheepish smile talking over his face. "About four miles out of town."

"That far?" shock register on her face. "He must have been chasing a cat or something, because he'll barely walk to the gate most days. We thought someone had found him wandering and taken him. It doesn't matter though. Thank you, so much. My husband, Frank, will be so grateful. I swear he loves this dog more than his own children sometimes."

"Oh, it was no problem, ma'am," Wally grinned at the woman. She beamed back at him, gratitude evident on her face. She now held the dog, Al, close to her chest. He pulled the same stint that he had with Wally, attempting to lick the features of the little woman's face.

"He's a bit of a handful, but he's really part of the family. Demanding and headstrong," her eyes softened as she regarded the dog in her arms. "But I think that's why Frank and I love him as much as we do. Al's got more personality than half the people in this town."

"I think I can agree with that," Wally laughed genuinely.

The little woman went on for a few more minutes, alternating between how much they loved Al and how grateful she was to Wally for finding him. He finally had to decline a cup of lemonade and an impromptu reward so he could leave. Before the little woman closed the door after thanking him once more and saying her farewell, while Wally had already turned his back and was halfway down the steps, she spoke out once more.

"He really is part of the family, Wally," her voice was soft, he could tell there were tears in her eyes. That much he had learned from living with Aunt Iris. "Even if he's not like Frank and me, he's every bit as important. I think it's because he's different is why we can love him so much. Thank you again, for bringing us home our Apollo."

Wally had frozen as the door closed with a soft click.

_Apollo?_

He forced his feet to move until he was out of the town limits once more. Unconsciously, his feet began to move on their own accord, much faster than before. Something he was used to.

His feet didn't take him to Central City and he wasn't surprised. Zipping into Mount Justice, passing a surprised Megan and a focused Kaldur playing air hockey and a silently watching Conner. He reached the kitchen only seconds later. He planted his feet in front of the magnet and paper covered fridge, eyes searching determinedly. After going over the surface with his eyes for the fourth time, he began to panic.

The letter was gone.

The letter he had planned to rip up _was gone._

* * *

><p><em><em>**One step closer!  
>But why did Wally want to rip up the letter? Silly question, because I know the answer. Bahaha.<br>****You will know soon enough, as well. I'm just having fun dragging it out though. Lots of opportunities to explore.  
><strong>

**You know, like the last chapter. Robin trolling Megs and Kal...wait. That's could very easily be a normal occurrence. Except the whole Megan/Kaldur bonding time.**

**That would never happen.**

**I wrote this with the intention of it going a completely different direction, but right after I started my dog (yes, she's a weenie. A mini one at that!) got up next to my laptop and started pawing at my hands and looking at me with those eyes and raising those eyebrows while I typed. This is where that got me.**

**And 'Al' is based off an actual dog. In fact, I get yelled at for calling him 'Al' because apparently a dog can only recognize one name or something. Which is silly, because my dogs know multiple phrases, especially when they contain "food", "cookies", and if the store has it in stock, "ice cream"...they know their names and nicknames as well. **

**I liked this one though. It made me happy.**

**So you people should like it too...and review. Because it was long and good.**

**Until next time!**


	31. Response

**Disclaimed.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

'**Response'**

.

* * *

><p>Artemis stared hard at the pristine, white envelope she was using as a book mark while she pretended to follow along in her text book. In a hasty scrawl the front read : <em>'Artemis<em>'. Underneath it was her address in smaller print. She had already sliced the flap of the envelope with Mr. Carlton's letter opener before she had sat down.

She was pretty sure that he only kept it around for protection. It wouldn't surprise her if someone would get stabbed with it, should it fall into the wrong hands of an angry or mentally unstable student. With a sigh, she nudged the envelope under the cover of her worn text book. The desk wobbled to the left at the small shift and Artemis suddenly missed the academy. Despite the fact that the people were stuck up and that they treated her like a second class citizen, Gotham Academy was clean, safe, and in much nicer condition.

Suddenly, Mr. Carlton was yelling at them, Artemis snapped back to reality; panicking as the siren and an automated voice cast over the P.A. system. Artemis followed everyone else's actions mindlessly and moved to take cover against the wall. Mr. Carlton moved to secure the lock on the door when the faint sound of gunshots fired somewhere in the school.

'_Not even a week since I restarted here_,' Artemis thought. '_Welcome back to North._'

The lockdown would last most of the day, she knew. So she sat tight and leaned against the wall. One of the girls she talked to on a normal basis in class scooted closer to her. Emma, Artemis thought as she placed the girl's face to a name.

"Not exactly the welcome back committee's best efforts, huh?" the brunette placed her elbows on her knees and leaned closer to the archer.

"Eh, definitely could be worse," Artemis replied dryly. A small chuckle escaped the other girl's mouth. Suddenly, the girl gestured toward Artemis' right hand.

"You've been messing with that all morning. Is it something important?" the girl was eying her hand curiously, and as Artemis looked down in confusion to figure out what the girl was talking about she realized that she did indeed have something in her hand. The envelope, the one that she had been fiddling with all class period, was now crinkled and a little ragged looking in her fist. She must have made a grab at it while she was on auto-pilot.

"It's just a letter from someone stupid," Artemis replied, sounding dull. Inside, she felt uneasy. The other girl, Emma, dropped the subject when she was yanked into a discussion a few seats away about one of the soccer players new bed toy. Artemis, for once, was thankful for the lewdness and scandals of Gotham North's students.

The announcement over the PA changed, but none of the students listened. They talked quietly amongst themselves as though this was just a regular occurrence. For them, it was; and for Artemis, it had been as well. She sighed and let her head fall back against the wall. She felt more…nervous than she could ever remember feeling when an incident such as this had happened in the past.

Only a small, undetectable arsenal of arrows and a foldaway bow were tucked into her locker. Her locker was halfway across the school, two floors up. Here she was locked in a classroom on the ground floor while there was a gunman somewhere in the school. Someone could have died and she, one of the few people that could help, was stuck without a weapon and locked away for _her_ _protection._ Internally, she scoffed at the thought.

She could have handled him. She knew that she could have. Unless there were more than one; not that she couldn't handle two or three guys by herself, but when they were playing with guns, real ammo, and the intention to kill, one had to be careful. She knew that the team would have been there if they knew that the school she attended was under attack. Better yet, they would take down the idiots that planned to come into a public school popping off their pistols as though it would amount to something. Artemis grinned at the quips Robin would have come up with or the taunts Kid Flash would have—

Artemis stopped with an unpleasant look on her face. She couldn't keep doing this. She had made a choice. Wally couldn't even apologize for what he had done. It was obvious to her that he wanted her family's identity pushed back into the dark. He wanted to act like it had never occurred, like he had no idea what she came from. She wasn't a pro a lying and she didn't want to have to pretend that her parents weren't exactly who they were. She just couldn't do that. A small burst of anger fueled her next movement.

Leaning away from the wall, Artemis stretched her arm to full length. Her fingertips brushing the top her desk as she reached and grabbed her notebook. Pulling it back to her, she pulled the blue pen from the coiled spine and forcefully opened to a blank page. Her pen met the page and her short response was finished in what felt like seconds.

In the looping, slim handwriting that was her own she signed her name and capped the pen once more. She stuck the envelope to hold her place in the note book and tossed it back onto her desk. Leaning back against the wall once more, she sighed and prepared herself for the long wait until their evacuation. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander to happy things.

Until a lone thought crossed her mind.

_How exactly did the Kid Idiot meet her mother?_

* * *

><p><strong>There. Now we have a little more fleshed out plot-ish thing. Like I said, I'm having fun dragging this out, but do remember: these are <strong>**moments**** of their days. They are drabbles and one-shots, assumingly in chronological order. That is why Artemis isn't involved in the team's drabbles/interactions/blahblahblah. This is also why the Artemis and Wally situation is taking its time with a little happy humor in between.**

**There is no need to rush! **

**So please enjoy the journey that is being taken, m'kay? This destination will come soon enough and then we can start another journey.**

**Anyone else hear that we're not getting any new YJ episodes until after the beginning of the year? I think February was the ETA. Doesn't that SUCK? Silly question, of course it does.**

**Until next time! (Read chapter 30! It's my favorite!)**

**Oh. And review.**


	32. Contact

**Disclaimed.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**.**

"**Contact"**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p>"So did anyone happen to notice a lack of letter on the fridge?" Robin asked suspiciously. Someone had beaten him to the punch and he did not enjoy it. The three other teens present regarded the youngest member curiously. After a moment each gaze eventually rested on the magnet littered surface of their refrigerator. The letter that had rested underneath the plastic banana magnet was indeed gone.<p>

"Perhaps Kid Flash decided to send the letter after all?" Kaldur suggested reasonably. Megan nodded in agreement while Conner just shrugged. This response wasn't enough for Robin.

"I doubt it. He called me earlier this week, freaking out about the letter being gone," Robin crossed his arms as he stared down the team. It was time to play detective, something Robin was extremely good at. He wanted to know who had taken the letter before he could get his hands on it.

"Maybe one of the League members took it," Megan offered up as an explanation. "Black Canary or Batman probably saw it after they gave us the 'no contact' speech and threw it away."

"I doubt it. Bats has _some_respect for personal property," Robin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Plus Canary didn't really seem to care TOO much about it."

"What's considered 'too much' here?" Conner crossed his arms and looked at the Boy Wonder flatly.

"Are you sure Wally didn't send the letter?" Megan asked hopefully. "That would be so roma-"

Conner's cough and pointed look stopped Megan from finishing her sentence. She sighed and pouted.

"I meant that it would be great if he had sent it," Megan corrected, shooting her boyfriend a look of her own. "He's gotta miss Artemis at least a little bit."

"We all miss Artemis," Kaldur's voice was soothing, but there was a stern undertone. "But she has taken a sabbatical to pursue whatever has been plaguing her. We must not interfere."

The lame look the Atlantian gained from each member was met with a stone cold, firm face. They wouldn't be able to sneak around and bother, er, get in contact with Artemis while he was around.

"Fine," Robin sighed after a long moment of silence. "That doesn't explain where Wally's letter went."

"I'm curious to know that mys—" a loud crash down the hall stopped Kaldur abruptly. Each team member immediately poised themselves for a battle on their home turf, but it was in vain. Seconds later their resident speedster appeared in the room, a chipper aura about him. He grinned widely, sidestepping the gathering in a blinding flash of faded red (another Flash t-shirt, Robin noted rolling his eyes) and had the fridge open before anyone could even think about greeting him.

"Sorry about the noise," Wally's muffled voice came out of the refrigerator where half of his body was currently in while he searched for a snack. He pulled himself back out balancing a carton of orange juice, a premade package of cookie dough, a bag of grapes, some celery, and a block of processed cheese. "It was so weird. I tripped up on a backpack and these stick things…Oh. Er. Rob, you and Kaldur might wanna not leave your stuff in the hallways. Makes it kind of dangerous for the rest of us, ya know?"

"They were sitting against the wall," Robin pointed out.

"In the corner as well," the Atlantian added, crossing his arm.

"Still dangerous though. You never know when something will just jump out at you," Wally shrugged and dumped his food stuffs onto the counter, opening the grapes. "What do you think would happen if something happened to this devilishly good-looking face? The world would be in a panic."

"Or we'd have one less eye sore," snickered Robin. Wally shot his friend a light glare, but said nothing as he was busy taking a bite from the now unwrapped cheese block. Megan's nose wrinkled in disgust and as she turned to leave something caught her eye. The something was white and in Wally's back pocket.

An envelope!

"Did you get your letter back, Wally?" Megan asked cheerfully, stopping her attempt to exit the room. The red head looked at her with wide eyes, confusion obvious on his face as he held the cheese in his hand.

"Wuh?" he managed around a mouthful of cheese and looks of disgust were shared around the room. Robin whacked his best friend in the head.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. It's disgusting!"

Wally rolled his eyes, but swallowed the food in his mouth before he spoke again. "What were you saying, beautiful?"

"The envelope. Did you get your letter back?" Megan asked once more, smile still on her face. Wally flushed slightly, pulling a face as he shook his head.

"I wish. I actually got a letter today," he pulled the folded envelope from his back pocket and waved it slightly. Before Wally could react, the paper was in Robin's hands and Megan was crowded close to the Boy Wonder to get a glimpse.

"Hey! That's my personal mail!"

Wally was ignored as they unfolded the envelope. There was no return address in the upper left hand corner, as was usually the custom. Only a stamp in the right and a name in the center. 'Kid Idiot' was scrawled in small, looping letters in the center. No address beneath it, only the name. Of course, the 'Idiot' was crossed out with a single, thin line so that it was still legible. 'Flash' was written in the same script directly about the marked out word.

Robin grinned to himself and Megan had to stop herself from giving into the urge to jump for joy.

"Is this from Artemis?" Megan glanced at the now beet-red and pouting speedster, who was avoiding their eyes by glaring at the kitchen tile intensely.

"Of course it's from Arty!" Robin chuckled in response. "She's the only one that would address it to 'Kid Idiot' rather than 'Kid Flash'. It could be worse, Wally. At least it wasn't addressed to 'Flashboy'."

"So what's it say then?" Conner spoke from his seat on the counter behind Megan. If it had been anyone else, she would have told them that the counter wasn't for sitting and made them move; but this was Conner.

"We can't read his mail!" Megan replied, respecting Wally's privacy despite her desire to rip it open and read it herself.

"M'gann is correct. It would be improper to read the letter without Wally's permission," Kaldur nodded in agreement, but he was too late. Robin had already pulled the folded up letter from the envelope and was scanning it quickly.

All of a sudden, the paper was torn from the Boy Wonder's hands in a blur of faded red. Though he didn't have it long, it was long enough for Robin to see the contents of the short letter and burst out in peals laughter. Wally glared at his best friend, standing in the exact same spot he had been except a crumpled letter was in his left hand while the cheese was now in the right.

"What did you write to her exactly?" Robin calmed his laughter and managed to ask the speedster. Wally didn't answer, just continued to glare and take a bite from his cheese block.

"So what did it say?" Conner asked once more, watching the two curiously. Megan leaned towards the younger boy eager to hear what the letter did read.

"'_Wally. _

_You're an idiot. _

_Your handwriting sucks. _

_So do your letter writing skills._

–_Artemis. _

_P.S. Even my mom doesn't want to say 'hello' back._

_P.P.S. Apology letters have to include an apology, something you did NOT do.' _"

Robin had closed his eyes and dictated the letter word for word from his memory. He grinned as he finished, opening his eyes once more. The speedster was now the color of his own mentor's uniform. "Arty's mom doesn't even wanna say 'hello'? Seems pretty harsh to me. What **did** you write to her, man?"

All eyes were on Wally as he fidgeted under the curious looks of his teammates. He finally responded after shoving the crumpled letter into his front pocket. "Ya know…stuff."

"Stuff?" Megan repeated dully, a skeptical look on her pretty face.

"Yeah. Stuff," Wally spoke a little more confidently, nodding this time.

"You know I'm going to find out what you wrote anyways. Why not just save my time and tell us?" Robin spoke as though pointing out the most obvious thing in the world.

"That is quite enough. Just as we should not have pried into what was written in the letter that Artemis wrote _to Wally. _We should not pry about the one he wrote to Artemis," Kaldur used his stern voice and he knew the subject would be dropped for the time being. A small smile found its way to his lips at the sour looks of his teammates. "Besides, we must look at the larger picture."

"The larger picture? What are you talking about?" Wally gave the Atlantian teen a confused look and Kaldur fought the urge to grin.

"Thanks to the letter you wrote before the rule was set into place, Wally," Kaldur turned and called over his shoulder as he left the room. "She has made contact with Wally."

The teens left in the room were dumbfounded for a split second. Breaking out in joyful squeals and high fives as the message sunk in. They could convince Artemis to come back…or bother her until she caved.

Kaldur felt satisfied as he heard the celebrations behind him. Sending the letter was in the best interest for his team. Of course he had to do it. He just hoped that Batman would accept that reasoning for his actions.

* * *

><p><strong>This took forever and a year to write. Ugh.<strong>  
><strong>I guess it turned out pretty decent though; despite the slow start.<strong>  
><strong>Forgive me for the time it took to get this one out. I've been splitting my time between this and <em>Christmastide<em>, which probably wasn't the best idea.**  
><strong>Oh well.<strong>

**I love sneaky!Kaldur, don't you? Almost as much as I love grumpy!Roy. Perhaps the grumpy archer will be popping in soon? Hopefully. x_x**  
><strong>So go ahead and do your reviewing thing and I'll do more of the writing thing. We'll all be happy, right?<strong>

**Until next time! (go check out _Christmastide_. It'll be fun, I promise.)**


	33. Text

**Disclaimed.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>**  
><strong>**.****  
><strong>**"Text"****  
><strong>**.**

**.**

* * *

><p>Artemis internally groaned at the muffled 'bzzzt' from somewhere on her mattress. She knew that her cell phone would wake her anytime it went off in the middle of the nice. She swore to herself that she would stop falling asleep with the phone under her pillow. Rolling over, her Bowery eyes tried to read the digital clock sitting on the corner of her night stand. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to where she could read the glowing, red numbers.<p>

"_4:23A_"

Who the hell would be texting her at four in the morning? Sitting up, Artemis skimmed her hands across the bed in search of the small flip phone that had woken her up. She found it lurking down by her ankles a moment later. It must have slid down the bed as she shifted around throughout the night. Once the phone was in her hand she flopped back into her pillow, a long yawn escaped her mouth. Holding the phone open above her head, she squinted at the bright screen. _**'I New Message: Ginger Idiot.' **_Artemis groaned. She had asked for the team not to contact her when she turned in her resignation to Batman. It's not like she had...

Crap.

If she remember correctly, and she was pretty positive she did, the letter Wally had written was dated for just mere days before she had quit. She had initiated contact with the idiot, giving him the green light to hound her as much as he wanted...or until she got a restraining order.

Artemis clicked the center button at the top of her phone's keypad to open the message, telling herself that she would delete it as soon as she read the damn thing and under no circumstances would she reply.

**'hey'**

Artemis followed through and deleted the message, feeling oddly satisfied at the prospect of ignoring Kid Idiot. She closed the phone and turned over onto her side to place it on her night stand. She hadn't even begun to move her arm towards the small table before the phone began to vibrate once more in her hand. Pulling her hand back and flipping the phone open in a fluid motion, it vibrated once more indicating she had received a second message. She hadn't even gotten to open the first message. Scrolling to the first message, she clicked and read:

'**Arty? hellllloooo? Answer me.**'

Artemis deleted the message, rolling her eyes as she did so. She clicked into the next message and the phone buzzed once more. Another message.

"**I know you're awake**'

Delete.

"**Don't ignore me**'

Vibrate. Delete.

'**Now I know you're ignoring me'**

Delete.

Artemis breathed ou—

Vibrate. Vibrate.

'**Stop it!**'

Delete.

'**Answer me!**'

Delete.

This time Artemis held her breath as she waited.

Silence.

Snapping the phone shut quickly Artemis pushed it under the pillow as she turned onto her other side. She smirked sleepily as she closed her eyes and relaxing back into her pillow. She murmured under her breath, trying to go back to sleep, "Stupid ginger kids and their stupid-"

"Bzzzzzzt! Bzzzzzt! Bzzzzt! Bzzzt!"

Her eyes snapped open at the muffled sound, "Stupid Flashboy."

'**So I'm in trouble and I need your help.**'

'**Wait...ignore that one. If I was in trouble I'd call The Flash...or Rob. Not you.**'

'**But that doesn't mean you can ignore me! Just that one message! Now answer me! :(**'

'**Don't make me come over there, young lady! Because I will!**'

Artemis took a calming deep breath as she deleted each of the messages and changed her message setting from 'vibrate' to 'silent'. She closed her phone once more and placed it onto her bedside table without hesitation. Ignoring the lighting up of the exterior screen, she instead chose to roll over and attempt sleep for (hopefully) the last time tonight.

She succeeded.

Outside, success was far from another person.

Wally stood in the middle of the deserted street tapping his foot impatiently. He pulled his phone from the pocket of his flannel pajama pants and unlocked the screen to check that the last two messages had sent.

'**Is Gotham always this creepy at night?**'

That had gone through.

'**So which window is yours' exactly? I think we really need to talk.**'

Huh. Both of the messages had been sent through the network. Wally considered sending a third message, but then relented. Maybe she really was asleep.

He stared at his phone for a long minute, willing it to notify him of a new message. Wally sighed and pocketed the phone once more. He glanced up at the weathered looking brick building. Most of the windows were dark and he hoped that Artemis' window was among them. Within seconds of the lingering look, the speedster was gone. There was no trace that he had been there, no one had seen him and no one knew he had come. Except Artemis and the covered eyes that were watching him from the building opposite of the apartments.

Batman watched the boy flee in his yellow and red plaid pants, shaking his head. He'd have to call Barry first thing in the morning.

* * *

><p><strong>So. Roy did not show in this chapter. I think I kind of miss him. :c<strong>

**Oh well. It'll be okay. Besides I put up a chapter of '_Christmastide_' so that kind of makes up for it.**

**And I'm throwing around ideas for the smut-tastic sequel to '_Tease_'. (No you don't have to read it. It's riddled with errors and typos. And it's citrus flavored!)  
>But that probably won't get written until after Christmas.<strong>

**Alright. I'm going to bed.**

**Until next time! (REVIEW! You know you wanna. xP)**


	34. Favorite

**Disclaimed.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**.**

'**Favorite'**

.

.

* * *

><p>"No way."<p>

"Totally."

"There is absolutely no way!"

"Yes there is! Totally way!"

"Canary would never pick a favorite! You're wrong, Robin. So wrong," Megan huffed, crossing her arms and pouting at the Boy Wonder. The boy in question just grinned at the alien.

"Of course she would. It is Canary," he stressed. "All the supers that have partners have favorites."

"There partners don't count as favorites, Robin," Megan pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"Yes they do. That's why they're their partners," Robin pushed on with a nod. "So even the ones that aren't mentoring will favor someone on the team. It's natural, Megs."

"Well," Megan arched an eyebrow at Robin. "There's no way you're her favorite."

"You're so wrong!" Robin protested. "I'm definitely her favorite! I'd be everyone's favorite if I didn't already have a partner!"

"Ha! You? No way."

"Yes way. Everyone would want me to be their partner instead of the one they already have. The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Superman. Even your uncle," Robin grinned triumphantly. Megan gasped, almost insulted.

"My uncle would never…!" the Martian glared fiercely at the boy, who stuck his tongue out in response. "You are a sneaky, mean child and my uncle would never pick a favorite!"

"Favorite? Favorite what?"

"Shut up, Wally!" Robin snapped, meeting Megan's glare with his own. "I can't believe you just called me a child because I'm someone's favorite."

"It's the truth," Megan justified shortly. Wally's head bounced back and forth between the two, waiting for another word. In attempt to cut the tension slightly , he spoke instead.

"Ahhh. Someone's playing favorites," Wally grinned to himself. "I wouldn't mind being Canary's favorite, if you know what I mean."

Both glares turned on the red head; but he was now spacing out thinking of the possibilities of being a super heroine's favorite sidekick.

"You are not Canary's favorite!" the two warring parties yelled in unison at the delusional boy. "I am!"

Wally snapped out of his daze to catch the second half of the synonymous statement and to see the glares go from him back to each other.

"You are so not her favorite," Robin scoffed, Megan's slight pout grew into a full out scowl.

"You think you are?" She shot back. "Because you're Batman's partner? No way."

"No, because I'm a lovable, cute thirteen year old boy that people can't say no to! Or are you blind to that?"

"Lovable? Cute? Sunglasses and your laughing is so not cute."

"And you're one to talk? Are you lovable or cute? You're green!"

"Dude, that was really kind of mean?" Wally interjected, earning himself another glare from his best friend.

"Shut it, Wallace."

"Do you have a problem with the color green, Robin?"

"Of course not. Green just isn't…hm, what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yes, cute."

"I am so cute!"

"No way!"

"Kermit was green and he was cute, ya know?" meekly, Wally tried again. Another set of glares.

"I'm more lovable than you too!"

"You are so not!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not!"

"Am!"

"Not! Besides, it doesn't matter! I'm still Canary's favorite!" Robin stuck his tongue out childishly once more. Megan stomped her foot in frustration, letting out a little grunt of frustration.

"You are not!"

"You don't think so? Fine, let's go ask her!" Robin strode out of the room. Megan was quick to follow the boy, leaving Wally alone and slightly confused.

He knew he should have left the first time they glared at him.

* * *

><p><strong>Sadly, neither of them are BC's favorite. I'd say Supey is.<strong>

**And apologies for the week long dry-spell. I've been working on "Christmastide". I had hoped to have it done by Christmas; but with everything I have going on, that it not gonna happen. So I've given myself until the technical last day of the song, which is in January. After that it'll be back to the multiple updates a week.**

**Which means more reviews, which means we'll hit 100 reviews soon.**

**And because of that, I wanna give something back…**

**So here it is:**

**The 100****th**** reviewer will get to request a one shot. They will get to choose one (or more) of the team members, a pairing (if they so desire), a prompt item, and a prompt line that must be used. Depending on the pairing, they may also get to choose the rating…which means I will write you smutty goodness, if I can make it possible with the characters! ;o**

**The only stipulations?  
>- You <strong>_**must**_** be signed in (so I can message you about the one shot).  
>-The review must have more than…oh let's say…more than <strong>**10 words****.  
>-The winning review has to be for one of the latest <strong>**three**** chapters. (So with this chapter it can be for Chapters 32, 33, & 34)**

**If the 100****th**** review doesn't fall into these guidelines, I'll pick someone at random. C:**

**Simple, yes?**

**Yes.**

**Now until next time!**


	35. Irony

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**.**

"**Irony"**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p>"So I heard that we're going to get a new teammate!" Robin spoke excitedly to Wally. "Hopefully, it's Zatanna."<p>

"Zatanna? Really?" Wally took a sip of his soda as he paused thoughtfully. "Nah. Zatara would never let Zatanna on the team. I mean, the guy hates us, bro."

"Hey, you never know! Zee can be pretty persuasive," Robin stole a cookie off the speedster's plate. The speedster in question was far too busy staring at the younger boy in shock to even notice.

"What the hell have you and _Zee_ been doing to find out just how persuasive she is?"

"That was a mouthful," Robin commented around his own mouthful of sugar cookie, grinning knowingly.

"That is irrelevant," Wally punched his friend in the arm. "Are you telling me that my thirteen year old best friend is getting more action than me? That is so not right, Rob."

"I didn't tell you anything," Robin shrugged, a grin flitting at the corners of his mouth. "Except that Zatanna is persuasive. You took it in that way with no provocation."

"Provocation? Dude. How else was I supposed to take it?"

"At face value is one of the ways," Robin pointed out, still grinning as though he were a cat that had just caught the canary.

"I'm a teenage guy, Rob," Wally sighed as though pointing out the most obvious thing in the world.

"You don't say," Robin replied caustically.

"I am going to take everything said, no matter how innocent, and turn it into something like that," Wally ignore the last response. "You'll understand when you're older."

"I probably understand it better than you. You know, with your lack of action and all," Robin cackled and the red head groaned pathetically, slumping down in his seat.

"Why are you talking about something as sad as Wally's love life?" a new voice, familiar to both of them question from the doorway. Both of the boy turned their heads quickly at the new arrival.

"Roy!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Good to see you both remember me," Roy took the seat across from Robin as he answered dryly. The smile on his face offset the crispness of his voice.

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Wally was eager to ask their friend. It was rare to even hear from the older boy anymore, much less see him. Ever since he and Green Arrow had their falling out, it was like Roy had disappeared from the face of the planet.

"My sixth sense was tingling and I knew that someone was making fun of your lack of a sex," Robin's nose crinkled slightly at the word. "Life. I knew I couldn't miss that, I never do."

"Harsh," Robin murmured, a light blush on his cheeks. "So what exactly are you doing here, Roy? It's really weird seeing you at the base…or at all."

"GA and Bats needed a favor," Roy shrugged nonchalantly. "So they called me in."

"Dude, you came at a good time," Wally had already forgotten the last few jabs at him. "We're supposed to be getting a new teammate. Do you know any other candidates? Other than Zatanna, of course."

Roy just stared at the speedster with a raised brow. Robin had already put two and two together, choosing to sit back and watch Wally's reaction.

"Actually, it's only supposed to be a temporary teammate," Roy treaded carefully.

"Sweet! You have the in, don't you? Tell us everything."

"Way to sound like a girl, KF," Robin teased lightly, gaining a glare from his best friend.

"Actually, I am the in, Wally. I'm the temporary teammate," Roy rolled his eyes at the boys density at some things.

"I thought you were completely against this Jr. Justice League thing," Robin interjected, as Wally processed the new information.

"I am, but Ollie and I are attempting to patch things up," Roy added as an afterthought, "For Dinah's sake."

"Please," Robin raised his own eye skeptically. "They sent Dinah after you, didn't they?"

"Yeah," Roy sighed, frowning at the memory. "She's more persuasive than the two of them combined."

"Ewwwwwww," Wally decided to add his two cents in, once more. "Dude, isn't she dating GA?"

"What?" Roy asked confused. Robin groaned.

"Take your mind away from where ever it is, Kid Idiot," Robin commanded dryly. "Ignore him Roy. It's great to have you on the team, even if it is temporary. This was how it was supposed to be."

"Yeah, I guess," Roy shrugged, tapping his fingers on the tabletop in no particular pattern.

The three sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes. The silence was broken when Megan floated into the room, looking lost.

"Hey, Megalicious!" Wally greeted her with a wink. "Did you hear the news? Red Arrow is taking Artemis' spot on the team for a while."

"Oh," Megan's feet touched the floor as she spoke quietly. "That's…great."

"Isn't it though?"

"Sure, Wally," Megan sighed, frowning slightly. "If you say so."

"You okay, Megan?" Robin asked concerned. Roy shifted uncomfortably, feeling like the odd one out in the room.

"Oh, I'm fine, Robin," the Martian gave the younger boy a small smile. "I just find it ironic."

Roy stiffened. "What exactly do you find ironic, Miss Martian?"

Megan flushed slightly at the harsher tone that their newest addition used, but her answer was loud and clear. "Just the fact that Artemis was always called his replacement."

Roy's glare fought with the firm gaze of Megan's when they locked eyes.

"What do you mean by that, Megs?" Wally asked, his brow furrowed as he watched the tense staring contest.

Megan blinked first. "You always called Artemis his replacement," she nodded stiffly at the glowering boy. "Now he's her replacement."

"No, he's not!" Wally gasped in outrage.

"I am definitely not that girl's replacement," Roy spat, the same outrage was more subtly lace throughout his voice. Robin just watched interested as Megan gave another stiff nod.

"You know what? You're right," she agreed. "Artemis can't be replaced."

With that the alien turned on her heel and strode from the room. Her head was held high and her shoulders were back. She had made her point and obviously felt better about it.

Roy was now brooding to himself and Wally was at a loss of words. Despite his better judgment, Robin agreed with Megan and chose to speak.

"It _is_ kind of ironic."

* * *

><p><strong>Whew. That got cranked our really quickly, especially since I just got done writing the 'Seventh Day' for <strong>**_Christmastide_****. I just kind of got hit with inspiration. Yay!**

**So there was the Roy chapter. I think I only want to write Roy every once in a while. But I do love him dearly. So so dearly...but mostly those arms. /sigh.**

**Alright, let me clarify about the 100th review thing. It is just an encouragement for you guys to review the most recent chapter, if you happen to be the 100th then so be it. Reviews are what tend to drive us fan fiction writers. It's just an added incentive that I wanted to give to you guys for being awesome and helping me get to a large milestone. **

**Because you guys rock and I love each and everyone of you.**

** And hey, if you don't care about being the 100th review, that's cool too. Just let me know what you think so far or what you might want to see, I really do appreciate it.**

**Until next time, you wonderful people!**


	36. Past

**Disclaimed.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**.**

'**Past'**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p>Wally sat on the beach staring out at the gentle waves. Had an onlooker been present; they would have believed him to be thinking deeply. The meaning of life, a scientific formula, the love of his life, or perhaps a tragic past kept hidden would come to mind as topics of deep thought. Of course, those onlookers would be wrong. Completely and thoroughly wrong.<p>

Wally's mind was blank. Completely and utterly blank.

There was far too much for him to think about and he just didn't have the energy to force himself in to thinking about any of it. Besides the ocean loomed far too pretty to taken for granted with the sun setting in the horizon and the beautiful colors reflec-

Oh god. He was becoming one of those romance novels his Aunt Iris read. Yuck. Maybe thinking about things would be a better alternative, despite his lack of desire or energy to think about such things. With everything going on, he really probably did need to think things through. With a sigh, Wally leaned back using his arms as props. The sky was quickly darkening and water had started taking on a dark, almost black hue.

Roy joined the team; to Wally that seemed like a good place to start. Roy had joined the team that he walked away from to begin with. The only reason he had joined was as a favor to the League and possibly to spite his mentor in a backhanded manner. Not too long ago, Wally would have thought Roy was just reclaimed the place that was rightfully his on the team; and as much as he loved Roy as a friend, he just didn't fit.

Over the past few days, Roy had completely thrown off the precarious balance the team had found without Artemis. In the time apart from Green Arrow, the boy had gone from the kind, mischievous teenager to this angsty, angry shadow of their Roy. More often than not, Roy was rude and unnecessarily harsh. After the Megan fiasco when they had found out Roy was their temporary teammate, the eighteen year old had gone out of his way to be colder and almost cruel to the Martian. Megan had stormed out of the room three times either in tears or out of fury due to an argument or comment Roy had made. And just when one of them had had enough to tell the older teen off, he snaps back into his old self with a small joke or comment or just a nice smile. It was taking a toll on the team.

Roy was taking a toll on the team.

Then, of course, there was the situation with Artemis.

As he had been the only one that Artemis contacted, Kaldur had assigned him the unofficial mission of convincing her to return. Or at the very least, Wally was to find out what had spurred her departure in the first place. He was determined to get her back, as he knew that it was his fault she quit in the first place. Wally hadn't tried to talk to the girl ever since the night he had run all the way to Gotham in his pajamas. He still hadn't gotten a message back from her. Here he was with all this responsibility on his shoulders and he had no idea what to do with it. Wally had kicked himself over and over again as he replayed what he had written in his letter, his short conversation with Paula Crock, and the night he stood in the streets of Gotham. There were so many different things he should have done, all beginning with the words, 'I'm sorry'.

Wally scowled and closed his eyes, blocking out the vivid colors of the twilight sky and their reflections on the dark water. He tried to clear his mind and it worked well enough for a few moments. There was no Roy nagging away, guilting him into feeling as though he was a bad friend; nor was there a sad looking Artemis, glaring with large, grey, tear-filled eyes trying to coax him into saying the wrong things. There was just emptiness. Emptiness and peace.

"BZZZZZZT! BZZZT! BZZZZZZZT!"

The sudden muffled sounds of his phone vibrations registered before he even felt them in his back pocket. Wally's eyes opened sluggishly and he exhaled, his breath forming a small white cloud in front of his face before disappearing into the now dark, cold night. Everything was tinted in a soft blue hue and he noted that the sky was filled with ominous looking clouds that blocked out the silvery moonlight. Lifting up from the ground, he slid his hand into his pocket and grasped the warm phone. Wally was actually surprised at the contrast of warmth between the phone and his own hand. He couldn't have been sitting out there for more than an hour; and normally, it took much longer for his external body temperature to lower in a mild climate. His fingers were stiff hitting the unlock code on his screen and he soon found that he had been here longer than an hour and that the temperature was far less mild than what he had imagined.

Pushing himself off the sand, Wally brushed himself off and started towards the entrance to the mountain's interior. He aimlessly fiddled with the edge of his case with one hand, while the other tapped away at the screen using his thumb. He paused mid-step as the frayed corner of a piece of stationary slipped from its spot inside the case. Wally wasn't even hesitant as he removed the case, pulling out the paper that had been crammed into it, and replacing the shell back onto his phone carefully. Pocketing the phone entirely, his hands now fiddled with the worn, folded paper.

By the time he entered the base, the paper had only one fold left to undo. Wally didn't really have any desire to unfold the paper and reread what was on it, but he was trying to get rid of some of his thoughts, wasn't he?

_Wallace,_

_Your mother and I think that it's about time for you to come home. We haven't been the greatest parents, Wallace; we know that now. We've worked on it though and you need to give us another chance because we are your parents. We're all that you've got, kiddo. _

_You've been a burden on Iris and her husband, Benny, long enough, wouldn't you say? So instead of playing house with them, you should be home thinking about your future. Mr. Evans, my shift supervisor, said that the minute you turned seventeen he could legally hire you. That he would hire you as a favor to me, so you'd have a full time position to start your own life. An entry level job, but it's still a job in this economy. _

_I'll give Iris a call and smooth out all the details. We'll be seeing you soon enough, kid._

_-Rudy West_

Wally's eyes skimmed over the page more than once. A blank expression was carved into his face as he stared at his father's left-handed, messy scrawl. He didn't even bother to get Uncle Barry's name right, even though he knew it. His father had hated Barry since the day Iris married him, but Wally had no idea why.

Uncle Barry was a great guy; his father, Rudolph, wasn't so much.

He had his spats with his father more often than with his mother when he still lived with them. Both of his parents claimed to be realists, but in hindsight, Wally saw that they were pessimists. They rained on his parade more than once, so to speak. Never once had the perfect scores in science and math been enough to appease the two; it was always 'Well what about the next test? Do you know that information?' Then his father had the sick idea stuck in his head that Wally would work at the power plant with him starting the moment he graduated. Even now, Rudy had convinced his boss to hire him on at seventeen when he didn't even live in the state.

They had fought about that most of all before Wally left to live with Aunt Iris. Rudy wanted his son to follow his footsteps, but Wally's interest lay elsewhere. Wally knew he was capable of more, and that he wanted to do more. Rudy hadn't liked that. Wally was still fairly young when those arguments started, he knew he couldn't have been any older than Robin at the most. He and his father would shout it out, both saying things that they didn't mean, or at least shouldn't mean. Wally pushed his father out of his life, just as Rudolph West was trying to force Wally into a copy of his life. Mary and Rudy would fight about the same thing when it wasn't father and son having it out. Never once had his father lifted his hand against his mother or him, but when the plant was temporarily shut down indefinitely due to problems with a reactor that changed.

Since the plant had been shut down, the workers were pretty much suspended without pay leaving many high and dry financially. In desperation, Rudy turned to the bottle, something he hadn't touched since his younger years before the birth of his son. More often than not, one would find Rudy stumbling around drunkenly or passed out somewhere in their house. His mother turned a blind eye to it, lying to Wally and herself claiming that it wasn't a problem. The fights had stopped completely for more than three months.

Wally knew that it was the stress, but there was no other provocation for Rudy's reaction. He had come home from school in the late afternoon one day in the spring, expecting his father to already be passed out or possibly at the bar. Instead, he found him in the hallway beating on the bathroom door. Expletives escaping his mouth every other word and his sentences slurred together. Drunk. Wally had stayed quiet, surveying the front room. Pictures were on the floor, more than one lamp was broken on the floor, and his father's favorite recliner was overturned on the floor. Other than that, the house was completely normal. Except for the raving drunk in the hallway.

Rudy West must have caught his son from the corner of his eye while he was looking around the front room in shock, as he had turned his attentions completely to his son. His disappointment of a son. Wally couldn't help but to take the harsh words to heart from his father's drunken rant and by the time the man had stumbled over to Wally, the bathroom door had been pulled open and his mother was in the hallway, screeching at her husband. That did nothing to deter Rudy, perhaps it served to infuriate him even more, as the next thing Wally knew was the floor. The cold, hard, wooden floor that his father had installed less than two years prior for their wedding anniversary and his mother had loved so much. The same wooden floor that was covered in different pieces of glass from the lamps and the multiple picture frames that scattered the floor.

The second thing that Wally noticed was the bitter coppery taste that had filled his mouth. The third was the pain. The sharp pain in his right cheek, throbbing from where his father's fist had met his face and then the burning sensation of the entire left side of his head. Wally would later find out that more than fifty-two pieces of glass would be picked from the side of his head, all varying in size. Multiple more pieces would be extracted from his arm and side as well.

His father lumbered over him, but his mother had restrained him. Well…she had jumped on his back, demanding that he leave her son alone. Wally gained his sense enough to move and preserve his life. Within seconds, the young boy was off the floor, blood pouring from the length of his left side and trickling from his mouth. Suddenly he was out the door, leaving it wide open for the world to see.

The letter was crushed in Wally's fist now, his eyes closed and his breathing was labored. A pained expression on his face. He remembered when Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry arrived to the police station; they had gotten there in record time. Both had been desperately worried about the younger West, even though Wally could only remember meeting his aunt's husband twice before excluding the wedding. The two rented a motel room, until an agreement had been reached. Rudolph West had agreed to let Wally live with his sister until he finished anger management classes, an alcoholic awareness program, and found a steady job once more, among other things. Wally hadn't realized until years later that the car had been absent until the morning after they had arrived, he imagined Uncle Barry had disappeared while they were asleep and drove all night to get back before he woke up.

That had been the start of his life now, as he knew it.

Wally West stood in the hallway of the base where he reported to as a teenaged superhero. The renowned Kid Flash. Not Flashboy or Flash Jr. He wasn't some deadbeat in a small town, content with working at a dead end job. Nor was he friendless and completely helpless like he was back then. Here he was, doing something more; something far more than he had ever dreamed. Most importantly, he enjoyed it above everything else.

Wally West stood in the hallway of the base where he reported as a teenaged superhero. Unclenching his fist, he smoothed out the new crinkles and creases in the paper with the short and completely meaningless letter on it. He knew he wouldn't go back there, his aunt and uncle wouldn't allow it. Especially if they got the adoption papers drawn up as quickly as The Flash liked things to go. Folding the paper back to the original state he had kept it in, he put it back to its place in his phone case for safe keeping.

Now that _that _was off his mind, he could focus on more important matters. Like getting Roy off the team and getting their archer back. With a small smile, Wally walked through the halls to find the probably angry or upset alien girl. He had an idea in mind, but the finer tunings of it would need a woman's touch. Preferably the touch of a hot, green woman.

If things went right, he'll be able to kill two birds with one little 'I'm sorry'.

* * *

><p><strong>Ten reviews for the last chapter already. Wow.<br>****Go you guys!  
><strong>**I love how everyone loves Roy to death even when he's a jerkface! And I picture Megan being the completely and utterly loyal friend when it comes to jerkfaces like him, hence her out of character sassiness.**

**So this.  
>This is the Wally chapter I've been putting off writing for quite some time (not that any of you knew this). I had to talk to my comic book man a little bit today, even though he just kind of rambled on about other topics. He barely touched on Rudolph and Mary West, other than them being rather…not-so-awesome parents. So I took my creative liberties with this. Hopefully, I'm the only one that it seems crazy long-winded to. If not, I'd like to point out, in my defense, that my fingers weren't satisfied and continued typing until they got tired.<br>****Forgive all the fragments. There are a lot of them. My Microsoft Word lights up and looks all festive for this chapter. I just kind of like fragments though. :c**

**So. Two more reviews and someone gets a one shot. Who's it gonna be? ;o**

**Oh yes. And four more chapters until **_**Christmastide**_** is done. Anyone think I can finish it by midnight on Christmas night? (I don't, but I wanna try, dammit!)  
><strong>**Okay.  
><strong>**I'm going to bed. I love all of you reviewers since you make my heart smile, my mind think, and my mouth laugh like flippin' crazy.**

**You will see me soon.  
><strong>**Very, very soon.**


	37. Fear

**Disclaimed.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

'**Fear'**

**.**

* * *

><p>There weren't many things that Artemis feared, and the few things that she did fear were locked away neatly with the rest of her secrets. Her many, many secrets.<p>

When Artemis did happen to come across the feeling of fear, she would focus and push the feeling away, converting it into rage. Into anger. Into anything other than fear.

So it is to be said that while Artemis does have her own share of fears and that she can indeed feel fear, she does not let her fear overcome her thoughts. Cloud her mind. Taint her actions.

The moment she reached their floor in the apartment building she felt fear. She paused, wide eyed, as she stared at the door that was jarred open and the broken pieces of a lock scattered about. In that moment, all Artemis felt was fear. Fear kept her feet planted to the ground as though they were made of cement and far too heavy for someone like her to move. Fear kept her eyes open, unblinking as she took in the scene. Fear caused her to tremble like a leaf attached to the highest branch of a tree. Artemis was consumed by fear and that fear was what compelled her to move swiftly all of a sudden.

Her mind wasn't even working, but somehow Artemis had edged into their apartment, phone in her hand as she listened to the emergency number operator.

"This is 9-1-1. What is your emergency?" The voice was all business, crisp and distinctly feminine. Artemis felt herself breathe out as the woman spoke. Her eyes took in the mess that was left in their apartment. Their home.

"Someone broke into our apartment," her voice cracked and she wished that she sounded as calm and cool as the woman at the other end of the line.

"Was anyone hurt, miss?" slightly concerned, but still formal.

"I'm – I'm not sure. My mom should be here," Artemis stopped, fear and panic rose in her chest. Her heart hurt as air filled her lungs and it was truly a painful moment before she began to function again. The hand holding the phone dropped to her side and the terror that clenched her heart forced her into movement once more. Her feet moved quickly as she mindlessly assessed the damage and their losses as she moved through their tiny apartment.

Their television. Gone.

Knick-knacks her mother adored. Half gone, half busted.

The lamp on the side table and the standing lamp in the corner. Both in pieces on the floor.

Most things were broken and the few things they had that had any worth were gone. Even their cordless phone had been taken, the base ripped from the wall abruptly.

Her mother's door was ajar and once more fear gripped her heart and squeezed hard as she nudged the door open with her toe, fists ready to take down an attacker.

"Mom…" Artemis' voice was automatic. Soft and heartbroken.

Paula Crock lay on the floor, eyes closed. A bat was had rolled a few inches from her slack hand and her wheelchair was overturned right next to her. Blood had pooled around her head from the large gash across her forehead.

Tears were already rolling down her face and Artemis moved to her mother's side. Her hand was still warm.

"Miss?...Miss? Is everything okay?" The now worried voice of the emergency operator drifted into her ears.

The small movement of her mother's chest caused her to drop the phone the floor and for it to search desperately for a pulse.

She found one.

Weak. Slow.

But it was there.

She grasped her mother's hand tightly, tears still rolling down her face as she snapped up her cell phone.

"Ma'am. I need an ambulance. Please. My mother she…" Artemis rattled off her mother's condition and the address. The woman affirmed that a police officer and an ambulance would be there in a matter of minutes. Her voice had become formal and crisp once more.

Artemis' heart still hurt as it thudded loudly in her chest. The blood was pump erratically and she could hear each beat of her own heart in her ears. She was certain that her mother would have been able to feel her heartbeat through the death grip on her hand, had she been awake.

Artemis stayed crouched next to her unconscious mother, listening to her own heart beat against her chest as tears rolled down her cheeks. Fear was still present.

"Police! We're coming in!" A yell from the front of the apartment snapped her head in the same direction.

"The back bedroom!" her voice was hoarse as she called out, surprising herself. Suddenly, there were more people in the room than what seemed to fit. Artemis was helped to her feet and moved out of the paramedic's way as he began to check her mother. She stood idly by as they began to load her up onto the gurney. She answered each of the cop's questions simply and mindlessly, no one bit of attitude leaked into her voice. They asked her if she would be riding to the hospital in the ambulance, but she declined after receiving a confirmation on her mother's recovery and the address of the hospital she would be taken to. She had things that would need to be prepared and done before she could visit.

Artemis would have to speak with the owner of the building to get the door fixed. Then she would have to increase the security in their shabby little apartment that they called home. She knew that Jade would want to know what was happening with their mother, even if she acted blasé about their relationship with their parents. Then, once everything was taken care of, she would hunt down the scum that dared to do this; carefully, not to alert the Batman of her actions. He wouldn't appreciate such a thing should he find out.

Artemis watched as they took her mother from the apartment and loaded her into the ambulance. The lights and sirens were turned on and they were gone. Artemis propped the door closed as best as she could for the time being as she dug through their cleaning supplies. Armed with a broom, dust pan, and a bucket of hot water and cleaning rags she exited the kitchen, still in her Gotham Academy uniform with her bag still strapped to her back.

He stood in the living room, surveying the disaster carefully. Artemis couldn't help thinking that he looked so out of place in his clean business suit that probably cost more than a month's rent. His blond hair was tame and his facial hair perfectly trimmed. When he locked eyes with his new prodigy, he sighed.

"Artemis, what happened?"

Artemis was careful sitting down the water and leaning the broom against the wall. She turned back to the Ollie, tears welling up in her eyes once more. Her bottom lip quivered and as Ollie stepped closer to the girl, she met him halfway. Wrapping her arms around his midsection, she buried her face into his clean, expensive suit jacket and cried. His arms were stiff around her shoulders, as he hugged her in return. He rubbed her back, and tried to shush her tears with optimistic promises that she knew to be untrue. Eventually, Ollie stopped with the words and just hugged the girl when he realized she cried harder every time he opened his mouth. Artemis wasn't sure how long it had been when she finally stopped. Ollie hugged her still.

Her voice was small. Too small for Artemis and that broke Ollie's heart. It was no louder than a whisper, but filled with so much emotion as she uttered the words.

"I was so scared."

* * *

><p><strong>So.<br>Tired.  
>I truly apologize to the short hiatus my stories have been on. I just got home a few hours ago from following an emergency air-vac last week. My sister is pregnant, blah blah blah. Something happened with the baby, blah blah blah. They had to take her to a hospital seven hours away (SEVEN HOURS!) and guess who had to drive the non-helicopter riders.<strong>

**Me.**

**She and the baby are okay though, so no worries there. They're slated for release early this coming week. (Guess who has to drive back up there.) **

**Hopefully, you all had a happy Christmas/Holiday/weekend. And a Happy New Year to come as well.**

**On another note, We hit 100 reviews.  
>Score.<br>The lucky review that hit 100 was: ****anubislover****.  
>The prize pack that this reviewer won includes:<br>**_**A one-shot.**_**  
>Less glamorous than we had hoped. Durn.<strong>

**Now I'm going to bed.  
>Until next time.<br>(Soon. I promise.)**


	38. Fight

**Disclaimed**

* * *

><p>.<p>

"**Fight"**

**.**

* * *

><p>The three occupants of the small room were silent. Two sets of eyes were hard and unyielding in their gaze; but the third set of eyes was closed, completely ignorant of the occurrences in the little hospital room. The only sound in the room was the slow, steady beep of the heart monitor in the corner.<p>

"You can't actually expect me to let the two of you go back to that apartment when she's released," Ollie gestured dramatically to the unconscious woman laying against the stark white hospital sheets. "Much less let you go back there alone tonight."

"It's where we _live_, Ollie," Artemis tried to stress to the man. "We can't just abandon our home when the going gets tough. Besides, I've been okay by myself for the past two nights. Why would tonight, tomorrow, or next week be any different?"

"You…wa…– WHAT?" Ollie sputtered indignantly for a moment before gaining his composure once more. Seconds later he had an accusing finger pointed at Artemis and was roaring angrily at her. "You told me that you've been staying at the hospital!"

"Yeah. I kind of lied about that," Artemis cringed at her own confession; she never had been very good at keeping track of her lies. "Obviously."

"Artemis…" Ollie sighed, his posture relaxing at the girl's unhappy expression. When he took Roy under his wing, Ollie had to learn the ins-and-outs of parenting, or at least enough to get him by. In the end, he had still pushed the boy that had practically become his son away. As Ollie closely regarded Artemis, who was staring down at the floor with her fingers twining together in an almost nervous pattern; he realized that he had the same chance with her. She was on the fast track to becoming the almost-daughter just as Roy had been his almost-son; though if he kept this up, she was on the fast track to becoming the next solo arrow as well. Ollie couldn't imagine losing her as well. "Look, Arty. You can't do things like that. Believe it or not, there happen to be a few people that care about your well-being. I know it sounds crazy to you, but it's true."

Artemis' eyes were still firmly downcast, but her hands had stilled at her sides. Even from his height advantage, Ollie could see the surprise that was etched into her facial features. Roy always had the same facial expression when he expected to be scolded, but was instead barely chastened in a more concerned voice.

"What would your mom do if something happened to you while she was in here?" Ollie continued. "Or the team? You just up and went on this hiatus without telling them a thing. What would they think?"

"I can take care of myself, you know," Artemis' voice was weak. Ollie just shook his head.

"You can come stay with me," Ollie said after a momentary pause, his voice firm and his jaw set. Artemis looked at her mentor; shock resigned in to her features, Ollie could only shrug in response to the look.

"No way! I have school! And what about…" Artemis trailed off, looking to her mother. "What about when she gets out? I have to be here. I'm not leaving Gotham."

"If you don't stay with me then you'll end up back in that damn apartment," Ollie stated unhappily.

"Yes! I will!" Artemis exclaimed, feeling completely exasperated. "_We live there_! That's the point!"

"I'm not letting you put yourself into danger like that! Especially after what happened to Paula. I don't want to see you in one of these beds!" Ollie's voice matched the teen's tone as her as he jabbed his finger in the direction of the unoccupied bed in the room.

"Why can't you just listen? I'M. NOT. GOING. TO GET. HURT!" Artemis snapped lowly at Oliver and for the first time since the night he arrived in Gotham, he saw her fatigue. The dark rings under her eyes were pronounced and stood out against her unusually pale skin. Her long hair was pulled back, as normal; but the sleek ponytail she habitually went for had been forgone in favor of a messy, high bun. Strands of her light blonde hair hung in her face and were falling from the loose up-do each time she moved. She didn't look like the well put together Artemis he was used to seeing and he didn't like it.

"I agree," Ollie nodded shortly. "You're not gonna get hurt."

"Finally," Artemis sighed in relief, rolling her eyes.

"Because you're coming to Star City with me."

"Oliver Oueen! I am not—" Artemis stopped yelling at the sound of a knock at the door.

"Hopefully, I'm not interrupting anything important," the door opened slightly and a familiar blonde's head appeared in the opening.

"Of course not," Ollie grinned at his longtime girlfriend.

Dinah chuckled and let herself into the room, "The nurses were scared that someone was going to end up through the door. I figured I'd stop you two before that happened."

"Nah, we're pretty much done here," Ollie shrugged and made his way over to the door. "Hurry up, Arty. We'll grab some dinner before we leave Gotham. There's this great little place on the same block as Wayne Enterprises that I wanna try."

"Ollie," Dinah groaned, hitting the tall archer. "Just because Bruce recommended it doesn't mean that we have to eat there."

"But he said they have some great pie," Ollie whined following the woman from the room. Artemis was left standing next to her mother's bed, staring at the door that was closing behind them. She sighed sitting on the edge of the mattress, hands fussing with the wrinkles in the comforter before taking the small, warm hand resting on the bed. A small frown pulled down her lips.

She wasn't going.

"Hey," another soft knock at the door pulled her attention away from her mother's supine figure. Artemis was on her feet immediately.

"What're you doing here?" the harshness she attempted to add to her voice didn't project, making her question sound monotonous.

"Dinah asked me to come," the other member of the arrow family shrugged as he responded. Roy Harper leaned against the wall next to the door, holding a clip board in one hand. He gave her a short once over and sighed. "You look like crap."

"Like you have room to talk," Artemis retorted, her expression now a scowl.

"Haven't been sleeping, huh? After I went solo, I didn't sleep for almost a month in my apartment," Roy walked closer to defensive blonde. He took a seat on the extra bed and looked at her expectantly.

"What? What's with the puppy eyes?" Artemis gave the red head a pointed look and he just rolled his eyes.

"Dammit, just sit down. I'm not going to bite," Roy snapped, glaring at Artemis. The glaring lasted for less than a minute. "Fine. Don't sit. I was just trying to be nice."

"And what reason do you have for trying to be nice?"

"I heard you told the team."

"Oh," was all Artemis said. Roy didn't say anything as she sunk onto the bed about a foot away from him.

"I didn't think you'd do it," Roy admitted, staring down at the clip board in his hand. "I'm glad you did though. I guess it means that you're not as bad as I thought."

"I guess not."

"You know Ollie means well, right?" Roy's gaze leveled with Artemis' and he gave a little smile. She noted that it was probably the first she had seen from him.

"I'm still not leaving," Artemis broke their stare to look towards her mother once more.

"Even when you say that, Ollie finds a way to make you do what he wants. He cares about you, Artemis. It's the people that he cares about that are manipulated the most," Roy's voice held an amused quality that she had never heard before. "Most of the time, the way he picks is for the best."

"I'm still not going," Artemis huffed, feeling three years old again. Roy just laughed.

"Keep telling yourself that," Roy patted the younger archer's shoulder and then surprising her by pulling her into a half hug with one arm. He stood and handed the clip board to the stunned girl, which she glanced at curiously. "That's the transfer papers for your mom. Ollie arranged a private room with one of the hospitals in Star City earlier today. He wanted you to look over them. They should be in to start moving her in a few minutes."

Artemis didn't respond as Roy shrugged and began to leave the room. She couldn't help the warmth she felt or the smile that was spreading across her lips. Maybe being part of the Arrow Clan wouldn't be too horrible; she could even deal with losing the odd fight here and there. In honesty, she wasn't sure that she had even wanted to win the fight with Ollie.

Roy interrupted her thoughts from the doorway. "Don't worry too much about Wally. He's a dumb ass sometimes. The two of you should talk it out."

Artemis snorted and didn't reply. That was a fight waiting to happen.

* * *

><p><strong>I love the Arrow Clan. I really do. Unsurprisingly, they're crazy hard to write interacting. Stubborn asses, the lot of them. Poor Dinah. <strong>

**I wanna thank all of you who sent well wishes to my sister. They didn't have to do an emergency delivery; so my sister will get to wait until full term. Which is good because the family has yet to completely prepare for the baby. xD**

**Gotta say that I'm pretty stoked about the prompts from anubislover. Crack pairings are so fun. I hope to start on it tomorrow after writing another chapter for 'Christmastide'.**

**This is becoming a serious business fic as someone pointed out and it's weirding me out. I gotta be more random! **

**Hopefully you guys liked this one. I originally enjoyed the idea when I first had it, but I'm not sure how I like the way it turned out. Oh well. **

**._.**

**Until next time, m'dears!**


	39. Coffee

**Disclaimed.**

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

**.**

'**Coffee'**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p>It was tense in the cave that evening. At about six, the members of the team had been corralled at the mountain with the simple instructions: "stay here until further notice'. The unsaid consequential threat, 'or else', lingered heavily in the air as the Batman turned sharply to leave. He left the befuddled teens to their own devices. For the first few hours they were blissfully ignorant of the reason for their sudden confinement. It wasn't until after ten that night that the Boy Wonder voiced his growing curiosity in between rounds of the racing game they were playing. The others didn't seem to perturbed by the sudden question nor did they seem too concerned with the answer.<p>

The answer would actually be provided by another in the dead of the night.

A short chine startled the sleeping thirteen year old from his deep slumber. Bleary, blue eyes glared at the offending electronic that was resting on his bedside table. Robin was quick to snatch up the dimly lit phone and skim over the text that had inappropriately jeered him from his sleep. Re-reading the words a few times to make sure that he was understanding correctly, he tapped out a response. A scowl was unpleasantly set on his face as he pressed the 'SEND' button.

'Roy, it is 3AM. What are you talking about?'

Robin didn't bother lying back against the mattress as he waited for the reply. He didn't have to wait long before the chimes sounded out once more. Robin's brow furrowed as he read the new text, eyes skimming over it it a few extra times once again to confirm his understanding. Dropping the phone onto his comforter and grabbing his shades, Robin was out of the room before his phones screen faded back to black.

Instinctually, he wanted to wake the others and solve the mystery as to why they were barred from leaving the base. Robin was quick to quell his instinct though, instead heading away from the private quarters towards the front room. He made sure that volume was set to low before turning on the television and seeking out Gotham's local news station. The station was running repeats of the previous days newscasts. Robin took a seat on the couch to watch for any word on what happened. That's where Conner found him two hours later.

The larger boy gave a question look to his younger counterpart; the look went unnoticed. Conner gave a slight shrug and continued towards the kitchen for some cereal. Mindlessly, he listened to the low commentary coming over the surround sound. The sounds of the cereal hitting the sides of the ceramic bowl almost covered the newscast and Superboy's attention was diverted to his hunger. It wasn't until the reporter mentions something about Batman that he focused his attention back to the news report. This time he listened intently as he re-entered the front room and took a seat on the couch.

"_…while the Joker made an appearance on 43rd street yesterday evening, the recent crime spree continues on the north side of town. Three more homes were burglarized this evening, Amanda Millians has the story_," the male newscaster passed the story off to an onsite reporter. Conner was mindlessly watching the new change of scenery on screen as he chewed slowly on his still crunchy cereal. The well-dressed woman on screen looked out of place in what he assumed to be one of the slums of Gotham city.

"_Thanks Todd. While the focus of Gotham citizens was on the latest showdown between the Joker and Batman earlier this evening, the local thieves came out to play. While local authorities were busy, the string of burglarized homes grew longer, but this time there was an unfortunate casualty. The group, known by Gotham's press as the 'Backdoor Bandits', used the conflict on the other side of town to their advantage by breaking into three more homes._

"_Normally, the thieves target homes throughout the middle of the day when residents are at work or school. Today, one of break-ins did not go as planned. Either by miscalculation or carelessness on the part of the burglar, instead of being met with an empty apartment the thieves were met by thirty-eight year old, Paula Crock. Mrs. Crock was assaulted and knocked unconscious by the attackers and was found hours later by her fifteen year old daughter. Despite the fight in the southern part of Gotham, authorities responded promptly to the call and Mrs. Crock was_—" the television was snapped off.

Conner shot Robin another questioning look as her crunched on another spoonful of his cereal, but once more, it went unnoticed. Robin instead was striding out of the room quickly, with no answer. The clone was left alone. Conner rolled his eyes and turned the focus back to his food. Only moments later, Megan wandered in looking half-asleep. She offered a small smile, breaking it to yawn widely. Kaldur appeared as well, looking far more aware than the Martian despite his haggard appearance. Finally, Robin reappeared with Wally in tow. Out of all of them, Wally was by far the worst. He could barely walk on his own, and he looked a sight with a large drool stain on his cheek and his hair sticking up in every direction. He hadn't even pulled a shirt on before he had been dragged from his room. Robin directed him to the nearest seat and let him fall into it.

"W'az so 'mportant, Rob?" Wally mumbled, unable to keep his eyes open as he spoke.

"Open your eyes and just watch this," Robin flipped the television back on and rewound the DVR back to the segment he and Conner had just finished watching.

"Hey, that building is where…" Wally trailed off as Amanda Millians began a repeat performance. The team sat in silence watching until Robin deemed it appropriate to turn the television off once more.

"Why is it that her name sounds so familiar, Robin?" Kaldur broke the silence, his gaze turned in the Boy Wonder's direction.

"And what does it have to do with us?" Megan added as she stifled another yawn.

"Because Paula Crock us—"

"Artemis' mom," Wally finished Robin's sentence. His voice now lacked the dreamy quality it had held only a few minutes before.

"Why would the League order us to stay here then? Do they believe it was an attempt on Artemis' life?" Kaldur questioned aloud, though no one had an answer.

"How would they even know Artemis' civilian identity to target her?" Megan now looked more awake than she had been earlier.

"Sportsmaster," Conner supplied shortly, a gruff tone to his voice.

"He wouldn't sell out his own daughter…would he?" Megan looked horrified at the prospect. Robin was quick to shake his head in disagreement.

"Too sloppy. If the Shadows wanted them dead, there would have been a fight that would have made the latest Bats vs. Joker look like a ballet performed by seven year olds," Robin protested.

"Then why are we here?" The simple question Conner posed became far more difficult than it should have been. Surprisingly, it was Wally that answered.

"They didn't want us to make a scene," he spoke matter-of-factly. It made sense; enough sense that no one else offered a comment. "We should call…someone."

Robin nodded, despite Wally's lamely finished suggestion. "Maybe Canary or Green Arrow know what's going on. If Roy knows, one of them has to know something about what's going on," Robin elaborated . "Anyone have their phone?"

Robin's question was met with blank looks. He repressed rolling his eyes as he had left his own phone in his room as well. Just as he began to push himself from his seat to retrieve his phone, a small 'oh' stopped him. All eyes moved to the speedster that had begun to dig in his pajama pants pocket as he fished out his own phone. Wally sheepishly grinned as her held the phone up and offered it to his best friend. This time Robin rolled his eyes exasperatedly and took the proffered phone. He was quick to dial the head of the Arrow Clan's number from memory (something that he wasn't supposed to know, but did nonetheless). He was greeted by a gruff Oliver Queen.

"Hello?"

"Ollie, it's Robin."

"Dammit. I told Bruce you would find out sooner or later."

"Roy text me."

"I swear, I can't tell that boy anything anymore!'

"You should know better after last time, Ollie. He doesn't have a problem blurting out secrets."

"Yeah, yeah. What is it that you need, Robin? I just got back to Star City a couple of hours ago and I need to get some sleep."

"How is she?"

"Who? Artemis or Paula?"

"Both. I mean, Artemis' mom is going to be okay, right? And Arty's fine, isn't she?"

"Well, kid, Paula had lost a lot of blood yesterday by the time Artemis found her and Arty's a little shaken up, but she's no worse for the wear."

"We can't come see her can we?"

"Sorry, kid. The hospital restricts visiting. You have to be family to get in."

"I mean Artemis."

"That's not up to me, you know that Robin."

"Will you at least keep us in the loop?"

"I'll make sure someone calls you later on today. Besides Bats should be there soon, you can interrogate him some. He was supposed to hunt down the guys that did this."

"Alright. Thanks Ollie."

"Anytime, kid."

With a sigh, Robin ended the call and tossed the phone back to the red head. After a survey of the room, he noticed that Conner and Megan were now absent. After hearing the water in the kitchen turning on, he assumed they were in the kitchen. Robin, having nothing else to do, turned and began trekking down the hallway to retrieve his own phone and finally text Roy back. By the time he reentered the living room, Megan and Conner were sitting together, mugs in hand looking somber. Both Wally and Kaldur had mugs of their own, but scowls were present on their faces as they looked down in distaste at whatever was in the mugs. A pleasantly familiar scented wafted through the air catching Robin off guard.

"There's coffee in the kitchen if you want some, Robin," Megan informed him softly and Robin nodded deftly.

He took a seat on the couch after he had poured himself a cup of coffee, adding liberal amounts of sugar and cream. Both Kaldur and Wally still held onto their mugs, looks of disgust having yet to subside; and the couple sipped their own coffee, leaning into one another effortlessly. The team stayed there until Batman arrived.

After he departed from their mini interrogation session, they had more coffee and continued waiting.

* * *

><p><strong>It's been a couple of weeks. :c<strong>  
><strong>Sorry about that. Between my laptop being jacked and my sister having to go to the ER four times (thank god it wasn't seven hours away though) I just didn't have time to sit type stuff out on my phone.<strong>  
><strong>I had time to scribble in a notebook though!<strong>  
><strong>But I abhor copying from a piece of paper, it takes me so long for some reason.<strong>

**I felt that this was pretty appropriate considering a lot of my time over the past week and a half has been spent waiting to find out what's going on.**  
><strong>And drinking coffee while doing so.<strong>

**It takes me a little bit longer to type from written notes because I get distracted, but please do bear with me. I have outlines and prompt plans and all that good stuff drawn up in pretty organizational charts!**  
><strong>More Roy and Artemis time! A little more focus on the neglected members of the team (hopefully)! And Wally is going to take another trip! Yay. c:<strong>  
><strong>Oh, did I mention that I quit Christmastide? No? Of course not, but cause I haven't yet. I'm just struggling my ass off trying to write the tenth chapter.<strong>

**Random notes:**

**Love to all of you.**  
><strong>Go read <em>Catchphrase <em> for Kaldur/Artemis goodness.**  
><strong>Pairings will be bounced around when I get to it. If I get to it.<strong>  
><strong>Did I mention that I suck at romancy-crap? Because I do.<strong>  
><strong>'Tease' will get a sequel! (eventually...)<strong>  
><strong>Thanks for the reviews (times a million).<strong>  
><strong>Sleep. Get some.<strong>

**Until next time!**


	40. Feathers

**'Feathers'**

**.**

**.**

Roy wasn't sure why he had agreed, but he had nonetheless. He sighed, adjusting his sunglasses once more before popping open his door. He took his time adjusting his tie and slacks, slipping on his suit jacket, and adjusting the darkened spectacles on his face once again, this time out of habit. His strides were long and purposeful as he made his way towards the only elevator in the hospitals parking garage, tucked away in the far corner. The elevator creeped from the ground floor to where Roy stood, tapping his foot impatiently; but the ride down was just as slow with the soft tunes of elevator music floating into the irate archer's ears. Roy was out of the elevator before the doors could even open completely, his strides faster now. His patience was worn thin already.

Entering through the front lobby, Roy paid no mind to the secretary behind the large counter leering at him. Nor did he pay attention to the three giggling nurses that hushed the moment he passed by, before bursting into high pitched twitters the moment he was out of ear-shot. Roy was ignoring the world and behind the designer sunglasses Dinah had given him last Christmas he was glaring at the wall to his left. More elevators. Roy allowed himself to be begrudgingly thankful that he hadn't had to wait until Christmas to board and arrive on the seventh floor. He ignored the nurses' station to his left, the sole nurse there paid him no mind in return. He knew exactly where to go and needed no help getting there.

His knuckles rapped softly on the heavy, wooden door and the muted laughter on the other side stopped entirely. The door was pulled open quickly and he was briefly met with a genuinely happy Artemis. Before he could say anything, a sour expression quickly overtook her features, but she pulled the door open further nonetheless. Taking a step into the room, Roy's eyes fell to the small frame of Paula Crock sitting up prim and properly in the overly large bed. Paula smiled at him widely, genuinely happy to see him.

"Roy, look at you. Dressed to the nines," Paula winked at the stoic teen. "Any particular occasion?"

"Had Artemis met with her tutor today, she would have been able to tell you," Roy glanced over his shoulder at the blonde that was rolling her eyes. Paula didn't even acknowledge the slight tone he spoke in. "She passed the Academy's entrance exams with flying colors. Ollie and Dinah wanted to take her out to celebrate."

"There's no reason to celebrate," the blonde archer finally spoke up, in a flat voice. "I'm not going to another school like that. I told Ollie this morning."

Paula grinned good-naturedly. "Oliver just hasn't figured out how to blackmail you into things properly. Until he does, I'll just have to pick up the slack."

Roy shot a confused look to the blonde. Artemis just sighed, the medicine they were giving to her mother made her far less…reserved than normal. "Nurse came in a bit ago. She'll be out in twenty minutes."

"Now Artemis," Paula Crock never had a hard time parenting her youngest daughter since she had gotten out of prison, but today seemed to be the exception. She couldn't manage to keep the stern voice she normally adopted in check while she spoke. "Go with Roy. You've been here all day."

"…That's it?" Artemis' eyebrow arched in question. "No threatening to take away my bow? Or forcing me back into Gotham Academy's uniform?"

"If you would prefer I do that, young lady," Paula grinned cheekily at her daughter. "I will. Now go."

"Mom—" Artemis protested half-heartedly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth caused by her mother's abnormal attitude. Roy had stopped her with a hand placed on her shoulder and an amused looked of his own.

"We'll leave you to get some sleep, Mrs. Crock," Roy stated, all attitude in his voice now gone.

"Make sure she's in bed by a decent hour," Paula yawned lightly as she leaned back against her pillow.

"I'm almost sixteen, Mom," Artemis pointed out, just out of habit.

"You still need to sleep," Paula didn't miss a beat, smiling at her daughter.

"We'll make sure of it Mrs. Crock," Roy nodded, assuring the woman. He tugged Artemis' arm slightly to lead her from the room.

"By the way, you look very handsome, Roy," Paula called across the room, slightly louder than needed as the two were halfway out the door. "Tell him he looks handsome, Artemis."

"Mom!" Artemis hissed, before pulling the door closed quickly. Roy snorted in amusement. "Oh, shut up."

"I do look handsome, don't I?" Roy asked mockingly as the blonde set off quickly, determined to stay at least five feet away from him at all times. Roy easily matched his speed and strides with her own; as he did so, he noticed her hair fanning out behind her as she walked. As they stopped and waited in silence for the elevator to reach their floor, Roy took in the sight from the corner of his eye.

Artemis with her hair down, it was an interesting sight to say the least. In her normal ponytail, her hair was long; but with it down, it was bordering ridiculously long. Roy committed the sight to memory, doubting that he would ever see her looking like that again. Just as he was about to turn his eyes back to the steel in front of him, a small dash of pink among the silky blonde caught his eye.

"Are you done staring yet, Red?" the dry voice that belonged to the silky blonde hair cut into his bewilderment.

"I'm trying to figure out what the hell is in your hair, thank you very much," he didn't falter as he shot off his own dry comment. Artemis shook her head slightly, causing her hair to fan out slightly once more and a small slip of blue to be seen a little below the pink.

"It's feathers," Artemis ground out through gritted teeth as she unconsciously wondered why the elevator seemed to be taking a lifetime.

"Why," Roy paused, as though he had to consider the wording of his question carefully, "Are there feathers in your hair?"

"Because," Artemis paused mockingly, turning to glare at the older archer, "Mom got bored and somehow the nurse smuggled feathers, the bead things, and a pair of surgical pliers to her today. This was the result." Artemis gestured less than grandly towards her head.

"Better you than me," Roy shrugged boarding the now present elevator.

"…"

"So why did you skip your lessons today? Ollie wasn't happy when he found out."

"I didn't feel like going. Besides, he probably didn't even find out until midafternoon anyways."

"Probably not."

"Shouldn't you be back at the base with the team? It's Friday, there's always a mission or training on Fridays."

"Didn't feel like going either. Teenage angst got old around sixteen," Roy pulled off his jacket and leaned against the cool wall. "Besides, Megan is constantly looking to fight me on something and Wally won't stop sulking."

Artemis gave him a look of bewilderment. "Are you sure you don't have the two mixed up with someone else? Supe—Conner is the sulky one."

"Nah, Megan has it stuck in her head that I'm not worthy to be your replacement," Roy shrugged at this, chuckling to himself at the thought.

"She's right on that, at least," Artemis nodded her head firmly. "You aren't worthy."

"Don't forget who you replaced, kid," Roy raised a brow at the girl.

"I was more of an upgrade than a replacement, Red," Artemis shot back, a small, smirk slipping onto her lips.

"There's no way anyone could be better than the original," Roy defended, rolling his eyes.

"It's pretty easy when the original sucked," Artemis laughed out loud as she moved to exit the stationary elevator. Roy did the only mature thing he could think of and lightly pushed her out of the way, exiting first. An indignant 'hey' was heard behind him, riddled with light laughter as he walked out the doors. The younger blonde was on his heels.

"At least, you don't deny it," Artemis couldn't help the sing-song voice that slipped out as she continued to taunt.

"I just choose not to acknowledge ridiculous statements," Roy responded sharply, only the small smirk proved he wasn't genuinely annoyed.

"If only you had avoided that ridiculous uniform you started out with," Artemis laughed again.

The two traded harmless barbs all the way to the sleek convertible that was waiting in the parking garage. Roy slid into the drivers' seat casually, while Artemis stood outside and regarded the car with an amused expression.

Roy had known better than to 'borrow' the convertible on Dinah's insistence.

Rolling down the passenger window, Roy forced himself to speak, "Are you just going to stare at it or do you want to get in?"

"I might need to get a picture of it, actually. Feel like putting the top down and smiling for the camera?" Artemis laughed once more as she pulled the door open and slid into the car. As she shook her head, bemusedly, Roy caught another glance of the multitude of colors hiding under the layers of her hair.

Roy shook his own head in amusement.

Pinks, blues, greens, and reds. Paula had gone to town and Roy knew that Ollie would be thankful. Artemis was smiling, even with feathers in her hair.

Plus…

There was a good chance he would see Ollie try to pick those feathers from the youngest Arrow's hair and attempt to attach them to the shaft of a new arrow, depending on how much Ollie had to drink at dinner.

Roy chuckled to himself as he shifted the car into reverse and drove from the garage with ease.

* * *

><p><strong>It's been a month. I know.<br>I won't bore you with the details of what's been preventing me from writing like I normally do, but know that it's been tough and free time has been lacking. I'm going to try and get back into my groove slowly to avoid burning myself out. So stick with me (or if you don't want to…then don't, I suppose). I'll get back to normal soon.  
>Tomorrow, I'll be starting on the connectedsequel/thingie to 'Tease' as an apology for my unintentional hiatus.**

**Forgive me, my dears.  
><strong>


	41. PostIts

**'Post-Its'**

.

.

It started small. A random little note on the fridge for Wally, a smiley face stuck to the center of the television warning that too much TV would rot Robin's mind, a heart stuck to the inside cover of Conner's note book. Then it began to grow bigger.

Megan, more often than not, did not train with the boys unless Canary was there to guide her. It took her little to no time to realize that they enjoyed training, almost as much as watching television or playing video games. She had begun to spend less time with them and more time alone. This left her with plenty of time to herself, and she soon ran out of things to do. Except snooping, something Megan knew she shouldn't love to do, but she was so curious and it was immensely interesting.

One day, she had come across something more interesting than snooping while going through Robin's desk drawers. Why a small pad of paper with an adhesive strip was so interesting she didn't know, but they were. So Megan borrowed the pastel yellow paper, never to return it.

That's when the little notes and pictures started. They would find them in the most random of places. Attached to their belongings so they would find them after they had left the base for the evening, to doors and windows, Batman had found one mysteriously stuck to his cape after a briefing, and Wally had woken up from a nap on the beach with a Post-It stuck to each of his eyebrows.

He had not let Robin take a picture of that particular sunburn. Robin had tagged him in all his squared sunburn glory the next day on a social networking site. (Of course, he did so anonymously by hacking into the speedster's account and uploading the picture himself.)

After training some days, they would leave the gym and find arrows on the corridor walls pointing in certain directions. They would humor her and follow the arrow throughout the mountain. Normally, Megan was absent when they finally finished, but a treat of some kind would normally be waiting at the end. The team hadn't minded so much on those days.

Nor had they minded when pictures showed up along the walls. Most of them poorly shaped from the outline of squares, but they hadn't said anything. Hearts was one of Megan's favorites and probably the thing that she was best at. They would find Post-It Note hearts everywhere. Some taking up the entirety of a wall or a window, others being simple, single-colored outlines, and some being filled in completely by different colored notes. The simple notes continued as well.

No one, not even The Batman, told Megan to stop. Not with the pictures, or the leading arrows, and certainly not with the simple notes that she left.

If only for the reason that she could say things she wasn't comfortable or embarrassed to say to the person.

After Robin had pointed out the small blue note stuck to his mentor's cape, the Dark Knight couldn't help the small smirk that formed on his face. (**You really are a great inspiration. Thank you.**)

Despite his sunburn and the two white squares covering his eyes, he still grinned at the notes that cause them. (**You haven't been sleeping well, hopefully these will help a little.**)

Conner didn't really say much when it came to Megan's new way of expressing herself, but he didn't really need too. He would often find the Post-Its left in his room at random, in multiple places at a time.

(**You were amazing today, Superboy.** )

(**I'm glad that you're okay.**)

(**I tried to make you cupcakes today, but they didn't rise. I'll try again tomorrow.**)

(**Thank you for carrying my bag from school.**)

(**It's Superman's loss. Remember that we're so lucky to have you on the team.**)

(**I just wanted to say 'hi' again and 'goodnight'.**)

(**I love you.**)

No matter if the note had some silly little explanation or some thoughtful note, Superboy kept it. He had an entire stack of different colored slips of paper with Megan's loopy script. Some of them were a little more worn, some weren't as sticky on the back as they had been, and some still looked as though they had just been pulled freshly off the pad. He kept them, but didn't know why.

Conner found a small multi-colored pad of Post-Its one day on the counter. Megan must have accidently left them there. They were smaller than the normal ones and the colors were different. A bright green was sandwiched between a layer of pink and a layer of blue. Carefully, Conner pulled the cube in half. Taking only a single sheet of green, he tried to stick the two halves back together. He left the cube where he had found it and went to search for a pen, taking the small green paper with him.

Megan hadn't seen any of her teammates since the night before, and she wasn't quite sure if she was at all unhappy with that. Things had been tense lately and with Red Arrow around, she just felt uncomfortable. Unwelcome. Even her small notes and pictures weren't diffusing the tension as she had hoped it would. A day away from the team seemed like a good idea, but she couldn't help but to miss their camaraderie as she had spent the entire day with a couple of girls from the squad.

Floating down the corridor to her room, Megan was slightly disappointed that no one had greeted her. She didn't dwell on the subject too much. More than likely, they were in the gym. Again. With a sigh, Megan moved to open her door without so much as a glance towards it.

A small flash of green stopped her.

Sitting slightly lopsided, off-center on her door was a green Post-It note held there by a small piece of tape.

She grinned widely.

Despite the fact it was scribbled in and uneven, it was the most beautiful heart she had ever seen.

* * *

><p><strong>The Team (and I) need to stop neglecting Megan! Because I am really trying to make myself like her more...Is it working yet? x_x<strong>  
><strong>K. So <em>Tempt <em>is being a pain in the ass and taking a year for me to get through. If you wanna see the outline...go to my Tumblr. It's my listed website thingie. =D**  
><strong>(Shameless self-promotion is shameless.)<strong>

**I've been fighting with myself not to write something in Teen Titans (the cartoon section) because I was watching the Trigon episodes last night and was fawning over the idea of SladexRaven. The hell is wrong with me? It's his sexy voice. Really is. (any one else super stoked for the TT being part of the shorts for DC Nation? I am!)**

**So I'll continue fighting that to bring more YJ love to the table...though my ships are beginning to skew in the absence of the show. **  
><strong>So be warned. Very warned.<strong>

**Until next time! (Go read '_Flirting_' and stare at the gorgeous piece of arts it was based off of!)**


	42. Father

**'Father'**

**.**

**.**

"Roy!"

"What?" Roy stuck his head out of the kitchen to yell at the blond in the living room.

"Someone's at the door!"

"Then answer it!" Rolling his eyes, Roy went back to the sandwich he was making. If he was going to watch Artemis until Dinah got there, he would at least be well fed. Spreading a small dollop of mayonnaise across the piece of wheat bread in his hand before placing it on the top of his towering sandwich, he grinned to himself admiring his handiwork. He could make sandwiches with the best of them and he knew it.

"Roy!" He didn't answer; instead Roy picked up the knife he used to spread his condiments and cut the sandwich diagonally and arranged it on a plate with a handful of chips.

"Roy!" Roy picked up the plate and began heading towards the room from where the voice was originating. Artemis was sprawled out on the floor in front of the couch with books surrounding her. Roy took a seat on the couch, flipping on the television, ignoring the look the blonde was giving him.

"Roy."

"Wuh?" Trying to snap at the girl around a full mouth didn't work very well, but he hoped his facial expression conveyed his annoyance.

"Are you going to get the door?" Artemis asked as she pointed her sharpened pencil at him.

Roy swallowed before answering this time. "Why the hell would I get the door?"

"Because someone's at it," she stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why can't you answer it?" Roy demanded, condescending look on his face.

"I'm a guest," Artemis shrugged. "Besides I don't feel right answering Ollie's door."

"I'm a guest too," Roy pointed out, but Artemis just gave him a pointed stare before going back to the book in front of her. Now Roy heard the persistent knock at the door and wondered how long the person had been at it.

With a sigh, Roy placed the half of his sandwich he had been eating back onto his plate and stood. As an afterthought, he grabbed the plate from the end table while shooting a suspicious glance at the oblivious blonde in the floor. He felt like a fool carrying his plate to the door, but did not want to risk the loss of his masterpiece. The sound of knocking echoed through the front hall, still just as persistent. For a few seconds, Roy contemplated ignoring the person at the door and heading back to the kitchen for a little peace. Shaking his head, Roy grasped the doorknob, turning it, and pulling the door open smoothly.

"Well hell."

"Don't you mean 'hello'?" Wally West ran an anxious hand through his messy hair, chuckling nervously.

"I was about to get to that," Roy replied dryly, raising an eyebrow questioningly at the speedster.

"So I, uh, talked to Dinah," Wally offered weakly.

"And?"

"She told me to come here?"

"What for?"

"You see, Roy, when a guy screws up really, really bad he needs to, uh, apologize. I'm sure you would know because you screw up all the time, but you never actually apologize and that means you're doing it wrong, bro…"

"So apologize then," Roy smirked crossing his arms. Wally peeked around the well-muscled arm, eyes searching the front room before moving back to Roy's face.

"I can't."

"And why not?"

"Because you're not the one I need to apologize to," Wally grinned at his friend cheekily. Roy just rolled his eyes, saying nothing as he turned and walked away from the open door muttering about eating his sandwich in peace. Wally was quick to enter the room, closing the door carefully behind him. He couldn't help himself as he eyed the contents curiously.

"Who was at the door, Red?"

Wally stopped; he had almost forgotten why he had come all this way for. He didn't bother answering as he was not 'Red', but 'Baywatch'. He did follow the voice though, stopping at the archway to observe the girl momentarily. She was laying prone on the floor, pencil in hand scratching out words on a piece of loose leaf paper. She looked relaxed, something that Artemis didn't often do.

"So what, you're gonna ignore me now?" Her voice chimed again and she continued writing.

"I should ask you the same thing," Wally replied, his own voice taking on a joking tone when he meant the statement in upmost seriousness. Artemis sat down her pencil and sighed pushing herself from the floor before turning to face him.

"Wally," her voice was flat this time and her expression gave nothing away.

"Hey, Arty," Wally raised his hand in greeting, offering a sheepish smile. "I was, uh, just in the neighborhood and figured I'd stop and say 'hey'. So…Hey."

"Hey," Artemis repeated, crossing her arms. She had the same questioning look that Roy had worn just moments before. Wally fought down the scowl that threatened to bubble up as he thought about the Arrow Clan's inquisitive behavior.

"And I figured that we could talk?" Wally tried a little harder, hoping that she would say something, anything other than—

"So talk." She gestured stiffly to the couch before sitting down on the far end herself. Instead of sitting on the opposite end as she would expect, Wally took a deep breath and took a seat right next to her. Only a few inches were between the two of them.

"Well, as you know, I, uh," Wally stammered slightly,"So nice weather we're having."

"Really? Please tell me that you did not come all the way here to talk about the weather," Artemis deadpanned as she gave the red head a flat look. A deep frown appeared on Wally's face at her tone.

"Lemme just…" Wally dug his phone from his pocket and began fiddling with it.

"Do not text me while we're in the same room, Wallace. It is childish and —" Artemis stopped short as Wally pushed something into her open palm.

"Just read it, okay?"

"What is it?" Suspicion leaked into her voice as she eyed the folded square of paper carefully.

"A letter," Wally replied shortly. From the corner of his eye he watched as Artemis unfolded each crease and let her eyes skim over the paper quickly. The slight confusion on her face as she finished did nothing to appease his unease.

"This…It's the letter from that night," Artemis spoke slowly, folding the letter back just as carefully as she turned to face him.

"Yeah." Wally took the proffered paper from her, without looking directly at her.

"There's more to this story isn't there?"

"Yeah."

"And you're not going to tell me are you?" She already knew the answer to this and couldn't keep the disappointed note in her voice.

"I…"Wally stopped and sighed. "My dad's a jerk."

"So is mine," Artemis smiled, the tiniest hint of sympathy in her voice.

"I haven't seen him for years." Wally's shoulders slumped forward and he stared down at the floor. "He broke my Aunt Iris' heart when…well…"

"We can leave it at that, Baywatch," Artemis' voice was soft and her hand was warm as she placed it on his forearm. Neither of the two teens spoke for a long moment.

"I'm sorry, ya know." Wally finally looked at the blonde, a guilty look on his face. Artemis just shrugged.

"You should be," she stated calmly as she pulled her hand back to her lap. "But at least you're finally apologizing the correct way."

"And about your mom," Wally added quickly, before he lost the nerve. "We would have been there, but Bats pretty much grounded us."

"She's gonna be fine, but thanks," Artemis smiled genuinely at the red head. "Roy told me about that actually. Robin gave him the play by play after you guys interrogated him actually."

"I should go," Wally stood, feeling uncomfortable. Artemis followed his lead and stood as well.

"Yeah, I've got a lot of homework to do." The small smile was gone as she nodded her head in agreement. She followed him to the front door, quickly opening the door before he could in attempt to be a better hostess than she had begun as. Wally stared down at the floor, scuffing the toe of his worn shoe at the shining floor. Artemis fiddled with the door knob clasped in her grip.

"I'll see you around then," Wally spoke quickly, backing out the door at the same speed. Artemis just nodded. "Bye Artemis."

"Bye, Wally." The door was closed and Artemis stared at the dark wood hard. The short conversation, while reminding her of how much she missed the team, left her unsatisfied. Another sigh and she turned back to the living room.

Homework was calling her name.

Roy caught the end of Artemis' ponytail disappear into the living room as he left the kitchen. Now that he had eaten and her guest was gone he hoped that he could catch a few of his shows since he absolutely had to be here. The sharp knock at the door caused him to wince as he walked by it.

"Artemis, door!" Roy shouted as he entered the living room, plopping back down on the couch.

"You don't have to yell," Artemis muttered, getting up and stomping out of the room. Roy just grinned and turned the TV up.

Artemis pulled open the door to be met with an out of breath Wally.

"Don't tell me that you were in the neighborhood again and wanted to say 'hey'," Artemis greeted dryly.

"Hey." Wally grinned. "We're okay, right?"

"Yeah. We're okay." Artemis offered a half smile in return.

"Good." The next moment Artemis was enveloped in warm arms and an earthy scent. Wally was…hugging her? "Come by the mountain sometime, alright? We all miss you, Arty."

Before she could even hug back (or push him off, she hadn't decided yet), he had let go and put a few feet between them. She watched as he ran a hand through his hair nervously and smiled.

"I'll think about it." Artemis lifted an eyebrow and Wally's grin widened.

"I better go for real this time," Wally said sheepishly. "See ya, Arty."

He was gone. Again.

Artemis closed the door.

This time she felt better.

* * *

><p><strong>Birthday Cake Oreos are amazing. Just so you guys know to try them.<strong>

**I don't like the way this one turned out. I might come back to it tomorrow after work and tweak it until it's right.**  
><strong>Ya know, instead of working on '<em>Tempt<em>' which is actually coming out nicely, but slowly.  
>Oh well. Go follow my Tumblr, sneak peaks and crappy drawings and whatever else you put on Tumblr (ya still not used to it...).<br>Or don't. It's cool. **

**Either way, do the cool thing and review.  
>Because I love all of you. cx <strong>


	43. Wager

**'Wager'**

**.**

**.**

It had become a normal thing for them. Only feet away from one another, the two would stand bows in hand and quivers strapped to their backs. They would rush to loosen the first arrow, but would use the few seconds they had to perfect their aim.

Once the first arrow was streaking through the air, they didn't stop. The onslaught of red and green would make any passerby stop and rethink what month it was, had there been any onlookers, of course. The sight may have been festive, but the mood never seemed to match.

It always started out as a relaxed activity until they had decided to make it more interesting. The two archers had just been wasting some time, while skipping out on their duties (the team or school) when they didn't feel like messing with it. It was completely coincidental if the two showed up at the archery range at the same time, but they didn't argue. Often. They had gotten bored with their peaceful practices and had made a wager by the third coincidental meeting.

The first to miss the bull's-eye would lose.

The prize?

One favor with full compliance from the losing archer.

(So far the losses were tied with one fulfilled favor a piece.)

By the time all of the arrows in each of their quivers were spent, they would be riled up and angry with one another. Talking trash and belittling the other archer's skills compared to their own. If one of them was having an off day, their companion let it be known. They would let it be known until a sharp comment was volleyed and a new, broader topic would take hold. The topic? Insults.

On the rare occasion, they would talk. Just talk between the silence and the dull thwack of the arrows hitting their mark. Sometimes the low twang of a bow string when they would opt for something other than complex bows to stay sharp. It would never be a full blown conversation, as that would open up too much room for arguments. Only small talk. Small comments here and there, either the other archer could agree or move on. Just ignore the comment and string another arrow.

"I don't understand," Artemis' rough voice was quiet. Roy almost missed it as he fluidly pulled another arrow from the quiver.

"Get what?" He didn't bother glancing in her direction as he lined up the shot.

She loosened an arrow before replying.

He released his only milliseconds later.

Hers hit the target first.

"Why you're here."

"I'm allowed to be."

"You should be with the team."

Another arrow.

"You should be in school."

"Why be part of a team you want nothing to do with?"

"Why keep training after quitting the business?"

Artemis stopped altogether. From the corner of his eye, Roy could see the blonde lower her arms. She let the bow string relaxed and left the arrow waiting.

Roy loosened the arrow he had poised seconds before. It flew through the air and hit the dead center of the target among the few he had shot so far.

"I didn't quit...I'm just on..." Artemis let the sentence hang as she searched for the correct word.

"Vacation?" Roy lifted and eyebrow, but she ignored him. He tried again, "Hiatus?"

"A sabbatical," her voice was more resolute once she finally finished.

"You're going to take a year off?" Now Roy turned and looked at the younger girl skeptically.

"I might." Artemis shrugged, raising her arms and loosening the arrow she had let rest.

"That would be stupid." Roy turned back to his own target.

"You're stupid," Artemis retorted under her breath as he released his arrow. The sudden snort that had been invoked by the childish comment threw him off the slightest.

The arrow did not land in the red bull's-eye.

"Shit," Roy muttered as he suppressed a sigh. He could already feel Artemis' smug look boring into his back. Another stupid favor.

"Well, well, well," Artemis clicked her tongue for good measure. "Would you look at that? Big Red missed the bull's-eye. Again."

"Shut up and just tell me what you want this time," Roy kept his back turned as he ground the words out through clenched teeth.

"Hey now. You are the one that started the bet, don't be like that. Who knows? This time I might make you do something worse than that picture," Artemis tsked as she pulled a new arrow from her quiver and loosened it by the time she was finished speaking.

"Yeah, yeah. If you think posing for a cheesy picture in a convertible was bad, I think I can handle your worst," Roy couldn't help the retort that fell from his lips.

This time, Artemis laughed. "I didn't say that was bad. It actually wasn't bad in the least. It just made me laugh because you had to smile like an idiot in a girly convertible because I said so."

"So what do you want then?" Roy rolled his eyes. Sometimes the girl could be almost dramatic.

"Well I do like your bike…"

"Absolutely not. You'd kill yourself."

"Eh, I could just hint at Ollie that I want one for my birthday."

"And the idiot would probably get you one as long as you promised to stay his sidekick."

"I'm not a sidekick."

"Then what are you? His partner?"

"Nope, I'm just an associate."

"..Really? You really just said that?"

The low thwack of another one of her arrows hitting the target filled the silence.

"Of course I just said it. You're just jealous that you didn't think of it."

"Whatever. Now what do you want?"

"I want you to take the team more seriously. If you're going to be a part of it, then pull your weight. Show up. Make an effort. Stop being the ass that I thought you were in the beginning, you're only proving me right. Plus you're giving Megan a reason to pick fights with you. It should be priority over this." Roy caught the flailing gesture Artemis made from the corner of his eye and couldn't help as he shook his head slightly.

"What if I don't want to be a part of it?"

"Then quit. Stop stringing them along and stop trying to spite Ollie." Both he and Artemis strung another arrow and loosened it. Both bull's-eyes.

"That's really none of your business," Roy glanced at the girl. She was pulling her last arrow from her quiver. Turning back to his target he reached for another, unsurprised by the fact he grasped the last arrow in his own quiver.

The three of them tended to carry the same amount of arrows. It was habit they had both picked up from Ollie.

"I'm making it my business," Artemis remarked as she readied her arrow, but did not release it yet.

"Fine. A new bet then," Roy demanded without looking at her. "Our last arrows. I miss and I take the team seriously. You miss and you quit this stupid sabbatical idea and rejoin the team in my stead."

"You have to apologize to Ollie too," Artemis added, her tone stern. Roy nodded sharply.

"Fine. Whoever misses…"

"What if neither of us misses?"

"Then the bet is null and void."

"Fine."

"On my count. One."

Both of their bows whined slightly under the strain as the two archers drew back their arms.

"Two."

The two taking identical deep breaths without even realizing they're synchronization.

"Three."

Artemis loosened her arrow as she normally would. The arrow flew straight towards the target, but Roy had other ideas.

As he uttered 'three', he turned just enough to aim for Artemis' target.

Just enough to see the trajectory path of her arrow.

And just enough to knock her arrow from the straight route it was flying.

The twin thwacks sounded in unison with high-pitched protests. Roy turned, looking smugly from the archer that was stomping her foot and pointing at him angrily to the target.

"Well, well, well. Would you look at that?"

The target had a cluster of green in the center with one single speck of red towards the very center. The arrow Artemis had just shot was handing loosely on the very outer edge of the target.

"Well it looks like your sabbatical has turned back into a vacation."

"I still think you're an ass."

"Once Batsy hears the news, I think your little vacation is as good as over, Blondie."

"Cheating asshole."

"Whatever you say, Arty. Whatever you say."

* * *

><p><strong>I don't know what happened, but all my documents are gone.<br>Like seriously, gone.  
>As in, bye-bye.<strong>

**All my original stuff is gone. Tempt is gone. My Homestuck stuff I've been fiddling with is gone. My queued chapters ARE GONE.**  
><strong>I just wanna know where they went.<strong>  
><strong>And why I didn't back shit up.<strong>

**I don't expect you guys to review.**  
><strong>I've kept you waiting thus long.<strong>  
><strong>I understand if you're holding a grudge, but I love you still.<strong>  
><strong>Life's been...<strong>  
><strong>Hard.<strong>

Can you believe that Wally and Arty had their original falling out over thirty drabble ago. Seriously. I strung that out. x_x  
>Ugh.<p>

**Remember, I love every single one of you. **


	44. Baby Steps

**Consider it disclaimed**

**enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>hide<strong>

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

It started out random and completely unintentional. Artemis and Roy had been skipping out on the previous commitments (school and loafing around the house, respectively) to wander around town in search of some kind of amusement . She didn't notice until they had completely passed it by. Stopping and glancing over her shoulder at the abandoned coffee kiosk just off the sidewalk, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Something wrong?" Roy stood a few feet ahead of her, arms crossed and a bored look on his face.

"No...I..." she paused straightening her gaze forward once more and began walking once more. "It's nothing. We should get some lunch."

Roy fell in step with her and glanced up at the sunny skies. "You know, we could go back and pop in at the mountain. If you wanted to, of course."

"And why would I want to do that?" Artemis asked dryly as they ignored the light telling them to wait to cross and crossed anyways.

"Well you lost, remember? Besides Ollie said that you and your mom are heading back to Gotham in a couple of weeks, he sounded disappointed now that I think about it. On the other hand, Paula said that she and Ollie had contacted the scholarship board and explained the accident and Gotham Academy is eagerly awaiting your return," Roy finished with ease as he flipped the bird to a car that had nearly hit them and was laying on their horn with much enthusiasm.

"Just because I'm going back to that school doesn't change the fact that you cheated."

Roy stopped to check his chiming phone and study something very carefully. "We need to take a left up here. I cheated and I won. We never agreed to no cheating, " he pointed out as he picked up his pace, taking the left he had mentioned earlier.

"Cheating is supposed to be against our morals, isn't it?" She lowered her voice a bit despite the lack of pedestrians around them, "The hero thing, remember?"

"You're also on vacation. Doesn't apply," Roy countered as he grabbed her forearm and pulled her across the street, effectively cutting off two cars and putting them in danger of getting a ticket for jaywalking. He pulled her around the next corner without slowing their pace or speaking another word.

"What is your damage, Harper?" Artemis asked as she wrenched her arm from his grip, he just smirked and gestured the food truck parked just a bit further down the block.

"Best onion rings in the city and we caught it before they moved." Roy continued on without her, leaving her to her thoughts. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction they had come, committing the street names to memory before continuing after the red head.

.

The next time she found herself at the kiosk, it was entirely intentional. Just as the glare she was attempting to destroy it with was very much intentional. It was the middle of the night and the street was completely desolate. She had sneaked out of Ollie's place to go for a short stroll.

Though sneaking was being used quite loosely, as Ollie wasn't even home and she had walked right out the front door. Then there was the fact that her stroll had led her all the way across town to the Zeta port.

She kicked the side of the poor building halfheartedly before turning and pressing her back against it, sliding down until she rested on the concrete.

"Either I go in or I go back to Ollie's," she laid out to herself sternly. With a firm nod, she stood and gripped the doorknob with purpose. Just as she moved to yank the door open, she dropped her hand from the handle as though it had burned her.

Her phone was ringing and judging by the ringtone, it was definitely Ollie.

"Hello?" She turned away, a mixture of disappointment and relief spreading through her rapidly.

"Artemis! Where are you? Are you alright? Did something happen to your mother? Do you know what time it is?" Ollie's voice went through a range of emotions as he practically yelled into the phone.

Artemis sighed as she turned and started walking. "Everything's fine. I just needed to go for a walk. I'm on my way back now."

She ignored the stream of admonishments and questions that were relayed next. She glance over her shoulder once more before turning down the street to with the intention to start the long trek back to her temporary home.

**.**

She was skipping her lessons again, but this time she was determined. She would not be deterred by phone calls, uncertainty, or taunts from a self proclaimed, onion ring aficionado.

The kiosk door was in sight as Artemis rounded the corner. Jamming her hands into her jean pockets, she sped up just the slightest. Without bothering to slow as she approached the small building, she made quick work of letting herself in after a quick scan of the area.

"Recognized. Artemis. B. Zero. Seven."

Even though Artemis was completely aware that it was the middle of the day, she was a bit disappointed that no one was in the hanger to greet her. Kaldur was nowhere to be seen, and not even Sphere or Wolf were hanging around. With a sigh, she stepped away from the Zeta ports and crossed her arms.

"Well definitely not feeling the aster in this case," she muttered. "I guess I can hang out and wait until someone shows up."

The hair on the back of her neck nearly stood up in surprise when the Zeta port began to whir to life one more. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that someone would be arriving soon. That only gave her a few seconds to compose herself and ready some of her finest wit for whoever it was. Instead of doing just that, Artemis looked around quickly and dashed to crouch behind one of the large crates strewn about. She didn't like being caught off guard.

"Recognized. Robin. B-Zero One. Kid Flash. B-Zero Three. Superboy. B-Zero Four. Aqualad. B-Zero Two."

She felt ridiculous, but this definitely wasn't how she had imagined this turning out. Artemis held her breath, praying that Conner or, god forbid, Robin wouldn't notice her . She could already imagine the smug grin on the younger boy's face and she had to quash the urge to punch the fantasy in the mouth. Staying still, she listened carefully.

"So can someone please explain to me why Miss M couldn't go with us today?" Wally groaned, nursing what would quickly become a bruise on his elbow.

"Would you stop that? M'gann isn't here and we all know that you have the fast healing thing going on," Robin pointed out, smacking the redhead on the back of his head.

"Dude." Wally's voice took on an offended tone.

"Miss Martian cleared her extracurricular schedule with Batman at the beginning of the football season," Kaldur interrupted before the two could continue their normal antics. Artemis chuckled silently at the note of exasperation in their leader's voice.

It must have been a particularly _trying_ mission.

"So she was busy?" Wally connected the dots and Artemis could almost see the faces of the other three.

"There was an away game today," Conner supplied shortly and Artemis was suddenly extremely conscious of her presence once more.

"And she's a cheerleader," Robin added with a chuckle.

Their voices were getting further away, Artemis noted with silent thanks to the heavens.

"Oh. So why didn't we get Roy then?"

"Roy was also unavailable for this mission," Kaldur explained. "I feel that he would have been adamant against aiding us in something as minor as this task as well."

"Besides, if someone hadn't made a certain archer quit," Robin piped up. "We wouldn't have needed to call Roy."

"Rob, man. I totally apologized!" Wally proclaimed dramatically. Robin's cackle and running feet we're followed by an annoyed yell. "You little troll. Get back here!"

"To be honest," Kaldur started after a moment. "I fear if Artemis does not return soon, someone will end up with injuries."

"I think she'll be back sooner than you think, Kaldur," Conner assured the Atlantian. Kaldur merely shook his head and went to corral the other two.

This left Conner in the doorway, looking in the direction of the crate Artemis was behind. A few seconds passed before he sighed and turned to follow the rest of the Team.

Artemis let out the breath she had been holding at the sound of the fourth pair of shoes retreating. She willed her feet to move.

Baby steps are better than nothing, after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Man, this has been sitting half done for months. Sorry.<strong>

**No promises on next update though. :c**


End file.
